What Would Have Happened
by This-is-my-designx
Summary: So, this story is kind of a parallel to my other story 'A Rose Between Two Thorns'. In this story, Ava and Elijah meet when they're both still human.
1. Preface

**June 25th****, 1000**

It was a stiflingly hot day in the small town of Lagrasse, France. The blazing sun beat down onto the few civilians that had braved the heat to go about their daily business causing beads of sweat to run down their faces as they attempted to gather food for their family or gather water to ward off dehydration.

One of the few people who could be seen actually enjoying the heat were two young children, around 9 or 10 years old, who were running through a field playing an exciting game of catch.

"Got you!" Cried the young boy, wrapping his arms around the girl as they tumbled to the floor in a fit of giggles.

"That's not fair! You didn't give me a chance to run!" Squealed the young girl. Though she spoke English, it was obvious that it was not her first language, judging by the thick, French accent. The boy, on the other hand, spoke with a Russian accent. Because she could not speak Russian and he could not speak French, they compromised by speaking a language both of them knew.

"Rules are rules." Said the boy, propping himself up on his elbow and smirking at the girl. She narrowed her eyes in mock dislike before lying flat on her back and staring up at the sky.

The children's names were Elijah, who was just one member of a large family from Russia who had migrated over to France in search of warmer weather and a better quality of life, and Ava, the youngest child and only daughter in a family of four.

Elijah watched Ava as she stared up at the sky with a smile. The two of them had become friends not long after his family had moved into town and had been all but inseparable since. It wasn't just the two of them that had become friends, either. Their parents had bonded over various dinners and Ava's older brother was friends with Elijah's brother, whereas Ava, whilst her best friend was Elijah, was also friends with Elijah's sisters.

"What's it like in Russia?" Ava asked, turning to lie on her side so that she was facing him. Elijah thought for a moment. "Cold," he said simply.

"Cold? Just cold?"

"I don't remember very well, I was very young when we left, but I know that I much prefer it here." he said, plucking a strand of grass from the ground and shredding it between his fingers. Ava copied him and pulled a clump of strands from the ground.

"Do you not miss it?" she asked, shifting her position so that she was lying on her stomach.

"Not really, it's nicer here."

Ava smiled but did not say anything else. They lay in a contented silence shredding grass between their fingers.

As the day wore on, Elijah and Ava played some more games, each of which Elijah won resulting in an infuriated Ava.

At last, in the early evening as the sun began to set, the heat that had engulfed the town since sunrise started to disperse as the sky started to dim.

"Oh," Ava said suddenly during the middle of a game as she registered the colour of the sky which was a slightly darker blue than it had been during the day. "Mama said I must be home before dark."

"Ok, lets go." Elijah said, holding out his hand, which she took. They walked through the field, hand in hand - well, Elijah walked, Ava skipped and tried to persuade Elijah to do the same - back to Ava's home. There, they found Elijah's mother deep in conversation with Ava's mother and her older brother engaged in a wrestling match with Elijah's younger brother, Klaus.

"Oh, Ava!" her mother exclaimed when she caught sight of Ava. "Oh, darling, you're filthy!" Ava glanced down, she was covered in grass stains, so was Elijah. She came forward with a piece of damp material and started to rub at a smear of dirt on Ava's cheek.

"Mama!" Ava protested, squirming away from her mother. She caught sight of Louis and Klaus's wrestling match and, with an excited squeal, bounded over to them.

"Can I join in?" She asked as they paused for a moment, breathless, as they looked up at the young girl.

"No younger sisters allowed!" said Louis.

Klaus laughed. "Yeah!" He said before pouncing on Louis again.

"Boys!" Elijah's mother said with a reproving glance, but it was obvious she didn't really mind.

Disappointed, Ava retreated back to Elijah, pouting. "I would ask you to wrestle with me," she said, obviously losing interest in the idea, "but I know that you will cheat so that you can win."

Elijah grinned at her, he took pleasure in winding her up. He didn't cheat when they played games, he was just better at them than her, because he was a boy and obviously stronger, but he knew that she would never admit that.

"Boys, it's time for us to go." said Elijah's mother, standing up. She retrieved Klaus from his game of rough and tumble with Louis and brushed him down so to rid him of the dirt that had managed to coat his clothes.

"It was nice to see you, Leda." said Ava's mother.

"You too, Giselle." said Leda. "Say goodbye, boys."

"Bye," Klaus and Elijah chorused as their mother led them away. Elijah turned and used the hand that wasn't being grasped by his mothers to give Ava and cheery wave, which she returned.


	2. Chapter 1

**August 10****th****, 1005**

The year 1005 had brought with it a summer like no other. Being in the south of France, the residents of Lagrasse were no strangers to warm weather, however, this year was one of the hottest they had encountered in years.

Whilst the town had encountered many alterations throughout the past 5 years, there were some things that never changed.

As they had done some five years ago, on a day similar to that of which they were encountering now, Ava and Elijah were, unlike most of the people in Lagrasse, enjoying the heat. Instead of running around and playing games as they had done as children, they lay in the grass, their bodies pointing in different directions but their heads close enough for them to talk. At the ages of 14 (Ava) and 15 (Elijah), they were now a hundred miles away from the children they had been on that hot day of June, 1000.

Elijah had grown taller and broader and his voice had broken somewhere between his 13th and 14th birthdays. Ava was developing into a young woman. Her hair hung to her waist in chocolate coloured curls and her frame was slender. No one had noticed this more than Elijah. Since he and Ava spent most of their time together, they didn't seem to notice the fact that they were growing up, but when Elijah looked back, he'd realised that everything had changed. He couldn't help but admire the sheen of her hair in the sun and the way that her pale skin had taken on a bronzed veneer due to her exposure to the sun. As they lay in a comfortable silence, Elijah turned his head slightly to look at her. She had her eyes closed and her lips were turned upwards in a very slight smile. She had the worlds most beautiful smile, he thought to himself, turning his head back towards the sky and closing his own eyes.

Whenever he thought back over the years that he and Ava had been friends, he realised that there had always been something more between them. He enjoyed her company more than anyone else's and could spend forever with her without getting bored of her presence. This wasn't just because they were friends; he was friends with Ava's brother, he was friends with other girls around the town, but he didn't feel that way about any of them. He was sure, however, that these feelings were one-sided. There were moments when he thought that maybe, if he voiced his feelings, then maybe she would come to feel the same, but he wasn't willing to risk their friendship for that, not when their friendship was perfect just the way it was.

_But couldn't it be more perfect? _came a voice from the back of his mind. He ignored it. He and Ava were friends, they had always been friends and he sincerely hoped that they always would be. She was too beautiful to ever fall in love with someone like him. One of his brothers, Klaus, seemed to have cottoned on to the fact that Elijah felt something more for Ava than just friendship, and took pleasure in reiterating that he was no where near good looking enough for Ava. He also took pleasure in voicing the opinion that he would be a much better match.

"Would you miss me if one of us had to move away from here?" Ava's voice broke through his reverie of admiration for the girl lay beside him. He smiled, as he always did when she spoke; her voice was like velvet. Her words rolled off her tongue in the French accent that he loved so much. Actually, it wasn't the French accent he loved, it was the French accent on her.

"Of course I would. Why do you ask?"

Ava paused. "I was just wondering."

Elijah frowned, it wasn't like her to ask questions like that. He didn't, however, pursue it. If she wanted to tell him something then she would do it in her own time.

"Are you coming to our house tonight? It's mama's birthday and you know how seriously she takes her festivities." Ava said, wiping the frown from Elijah's face and replacing it with a smile.

"Of course. We would not miss your mother's birthday." Elijah's family had been present at almost every one of Ava's family celebrations since they had moved to Lagrasse and vice versa. Ava's family were considered extended family.

Later on that night after the sun had gone down and a pleasant coolness had settled over the town, Elijah and his family - which consisted of himself, his parents, 3 brothers and 3 sisters - made their way over to the La Torre's house. Candles had been lit inside the house, casting pools of light to spill out onto the path way leading up to the house.

Having heard their approach, perhaps, the door was pulled open before they could reach it by Ava. Elijah felt his jaw drop at the sight of her. She was wearing a simple dress cut from the finest silk in a pale shade of blue. The top half of her hair had been pulled up and pinned at the back of her head whilst the rest of it fell down to her waist in curls.

She smiled at Elijah's family and stepped back, gesturing for them to come inside.

"Ava!" Exclaimed Elijah's father, Nicholas, stepping forward and grasping Ava's hand with both of his before pressing his lips to both of her cheeks, as was customary.

Before Ava could respond with more than a gracious smile her own father, Danton, came to greet the rest of the family, leaving Ava free to make her way over to Elijah.

Elijah watched her with a smile as she approached him. It seemed as though she was having trouble keeping her own smile fixed on her face for it seemed to be wavering somewhat as she drew closer.

"Are you ok?" Elijah asked her once she was within earshot.

"I'm fine." She replied, hitching her smile back into place. In a transparent attempt to change the subject she ran her hand her hand down his arm and surveyed him.

"You look good, mon chéri." She said with a forced smile.

"As do you." Elijah replied. "Here," he offered her his arm, which she took, and they followed his family into the dining room where everyone was now taking their seats in preparation for the delicious meal that had been prepared for Giselle's birthday.

Ava took her seat next to her brother whilst Elijah sat down opposite her with his sister, Aurelia, on one side and his brother, Klaus, on the other. Elijah's gaze, just like everyone else's, was drawn to the head of the table where Giselle was now standing up, demanding the attention of everyone at the table.

"I'd just like to thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to Danton, Louis and Ava, as well. We've all come to think of you as family, and that's part of the reason we've asked you here tonight."

Everyone except Ava were looking over at Giselle with slight smiles.

"Now, we were going to wait until later to tell you, but…"

Elijah glanced over at Ava who was staring at her mother with an expression that could only be described as dismay.

"Although we love it here, Danton and I have decided that it is time for a change of scenery. Danton has family in England and we have decided to relocate our family there."

Elijah felt as though his heart has plummeted to his feet. He stared over at Ava who was deliberately avoiding his gaze. It all made sense now, the out-of-character question, the wavering smiles, she had known that soon, their friendship would be tested; they were going to be separated by hundreds of miles, their only form of communication would be letters, which would surely fizzle out after Ava made new friends in England and forgot all about him. Not only would he be losing his best friend, he'd be losing the first girl he'd ever had deeper feelings for before he'd had a chance to see if it could have ever developed into something more.


	3. Chapter 2

**August 10th**** 1005**

Ava avoided Elijah's gaze for the rest of the meal. In fact, she avoided everyone's gaze. She spoke only when spoken to and her answers were short and left no room to be expanded on.

As soon as the meal was over and they were free to leave the table and go through to the living area where they could talk more comfortably, Ava excused herself from the room and made for the stairs. Elijah wasn't going to let her get away that quickly, though. He glanced around, no one seemed to be paying either he or Ava any attention as they were all too busy wishing Giselle a happy birthday and talking about their plans for the move.

"Oh, we will miss you so!" Exclaimed Leda, grasping Giselle's hand with her own.

No one seemed to have noticed Ava's hasty departure, so Elijah followed her. He hurried silently through the hallway and found her half way up the stairs. She didn't seem to notice him staring up at her from the hallway, so he made his way quickly and quietly up the stairs, reaching the top just as she was about to pull the door of her sleeping chambers open.

"You're avoiding me." said Elijah, causing Ava to start. She turned around and surveyed him.

"I know." she said, letting her hand drop from the door and looking down at the floor. Elijah walked towards her, closing the space between them. He stared at her whilst she stared at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I also hoped that they'd change their minds." she replied, still looking at the floor.

"You still could have told me!"

"Why! What difference would it have made?" Ava exclaimed, flaring up at once. She tore her gaze away from the floor and glared at Elijah. He was a little taken a back, she'd never spoken to him like that before.

"Well it would have been nice to have had some warning!" Elijah replied, just as furiously.

"Well I'm sorry then that I couldn't find the right time to tell you that my parents are dragging me to England and that after that I will probably never see you again." She hissed, pulling open the door to her room, stepping inside and slamming the door behind her, leaving Elijah on the outside, staring at the thick piece of wood that was the only physical barrier between him and the girl he had admired for so very long. He stared at the door for a long time, wondering whether he should go after her and refuse to leave until they were friends again, but he knew that that would only anger her further. Ava got angry very rarely, but when she did she was to be treated with caution; she had an extremely fiery temper.

Resigned, Elijah turned away and traipsed back down the stairs, thoroughly dispirited.

**August 25****th****, 1005**

The following weeks past in a haze of warm weather and misery. With all the preparations for their move, Ava had had no time to talk to Elijah. He doubted that, even if she had, she would have. He had caught only a glance of her since her mother's birthday. He had been walking through the village and had seen her, hurrying through the streets. He supposed she had been doing an errand for her parents. He had watched her from a distance until she caught sight of them. They both stopped for a brief moment within which they stared at each other. Ava recovered first. She tore her gaze away and hurried on as though nothing had happened. Elijah had continued on his way, utterly miserable. He had settled down in the field that he and Ava had so often inhabited. Sighing, he kicked a clump of grass, achieving nothing but a new surge of frustration as he realised how little time he had to make amends with Ava before she left for England.

**September 1****st****, 1005**

The day that Elijah had been dreading ever since he had learnt of its existence had arrived. Ava and her family would be leaving for England later on that day. He had still not taken any steps to fix his friendship with Ava before he left, and neither had she. He knew perfectly why he hadn't done anything; despite the fact he so desperately wanted to be friends with her again, he knew that if they did make up, that would make it all the more harder when she left. The pair of them hadn't spoken for weeks and although Elijah found that this made him more miserable than ever, it was preparing him for the day that he wouldn't be able to talk to her whenever he wanted anymore.

He knew that his family would be heading over to Ava's house that day to bid them goodbye, so he feigned illness to avoid having to go with them. The last thing he wanted was to say goodbye. Saying goodbye would make it final, it would make it all too real. Elijah was perfectly content with pretending that maybe they'd change their mind at the very last minute and they wouldn't take Ava away from him to a land far away and then they could make up and be best friends again. It was extremely wishful thinking.

His family departed for the farewell party, but not before his mother had held a hand to his forehead, worriedly debating whether she ought to go or whether she ought to stay with her seemingly sick son. After Elijah had assured her that all he needed was a good rest, she left with the rest of the family, though still worried about him.

He lay on his bed, wondering whether he should have gone with them. It was, after all, potentially the last time he would ever see his best friend. He couldn't bring himself to go after them, he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye.

He must have fallen asleep somewhere a long the line because the next thing he knew, his mother was holding her hand to his forehead once again, apparently checking his temperature.

"How are you feeling, darling?" She asked him, smoothing his hair back from his forehead.

"Fine." he mumbled, still half asleep.

"I'll let you go back to sleep then." She said with a smile. "Ava missed you today. She wanted me to give you this." She held up a sheet of parchment that had been rolled up and set it down on the table next to his bed. She kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, sweetheart." his mother said quietly before leaving the room.

Elijah, now fully awake, waited until his mothers footsteps had faded away to snatch up the scroll and unfurl it. He was eager to see what Ava had written:

_Elijah,_

_Firstly, I want to apologise, _she wrote, _for not telling you about the move. I didn't want to spoil the time we had left. Secondly, I want to apologise for my performance at my mother's birthday. I was distraught, I hadn't expected my mother to announce it as soon as you'd arrived. She had said she would wait until after dinner so I was under the impression I'd have time to compose myself. That is, however, no excuse for the way I spoke to you. _

_I've missed you. It's been strange not spending time with you. I suppose it's all practice for when I leave. I'm dreading leaving. My home is here, I don't think anywhere else will ever compare. I'm also dreading leaving you behind. You won't forget me, will you? I know that I haven't exactly acted like a friend in the past few weeks, but please know that I will miss you terribly when I go. You're the best friend I've ever had and - _here there was a sentence that had been hastily scribbled out. Elijah tried his best to see what had been written there, but she had made sure to scribble it out enough that he would not be able to read it - _if it were up to me, we'd stay here. I hope to see you tonight when you all come to say goodbye. Hopefully I'll be able to say all of this in person but if not…well, that's what this is for. _

_I hope that someday we will be reunited. Please don't forget me. _

_Ava._

Underneath her name, another part had been added. It was hastily written and was not as neat as the writing above it, as though it had been written with very little time to spare.

_Your mother says that you are ill and unable to make it. I, however, believe that you are avoiding me after our argument. I won't pretend that I'm not angry, because I am. I thought that, despite my outburst, that you would have at least wanted to say goodbye. I mean, we may never see or speak to each other again. I guess I - wrongly - assumed that I meant something to you. I'm sorry that we aren't parting on better terms. _

_Goodbye, Elijah._

Elijah read the letter twice in quick succession. The first part had filled him with both a warmth that had nothing to do with the warm, summer air and everything to do with the words in the letter and a feeling he thought might be a mournful one. It did feel a little like someone had died. The second part, however, filled him with anger. He screwed up the letter in frustration and threw it across the room. She had wanted to see him! She had wanted to say goodbye! And he, being the idiot that he was, had pretended that he was ill all because he didn't want it to feel final. He cursed strongly at his own stupidity. It was too late now. He would never see her again. He pushed a hand through his hair and punched the wall beside him earning nothing but an excruciating pain in his knuckles.


	4. Chapter 3

**5****th**** September, 1005**

_Ava,_

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't come to say goodbye. I could give you a whole list of excuses for why I didn't bid you farewell, but the truth is I didn't think I could face saying goodbye. I regret it now, of course, that you're gone. _

_I miss you, a lot. I make an effort to keep myself busy so that I do not sink into a depression. I've started spending more time with my brothers, it's not the same though. _

_What is England like? My father visited once in his youth and said it was most delightful. My father says this about a lot of places though. _

_I hope that you can forgive me for not saying goodbye. _

_I miss you._

_Elijah._

**25th October, 1005**

_Elijah,_

_I won't pretend that your absence when your family came to bid us goodbye didn't hurt me. We've been friends ever since we were tiny children. I don't understand, surely you would have wanted to see me just one last time? We may never see each other again, Elijah. The last memory I have of you is not a good one. I had hoped we could reconcile before I left but, I suppose it is too late for that now. _

_I forgive you, Elijah. I miss you too much to remain angry with you._

_England is…different. It's colder, but the people are pleasant though I wouldn't describe it as delightful. I miss France. I never knew how much I loved it before I left. _

_Mother has been encouraging me to make friends with the local girls. They are nice most of the time but they really do not compare to you. Sometimes, they treat me like I am stupid, possibly because I am French and they think that I do not understand them. Louis has settled in rather nicely. He has made friends with one of the local boys named Henry. One of the girls that my mother encourages me to mix with is Henry's sister. Her name is Adeline. I don't like her much. She seems to look down her nose at me. Whenever she speaks to me, she speaks very slowly and very loudly. I suppose she thinks that I won't understand otherwise._

_Please tell your brother, Bryden, Happy Birthday for next week! He's growing up so fast! _

_Ava._

**27th December****, 1005**

_Ava,_

_Bryden said thank you very much and that he misses you and your brother. He asked when you were coming home. He looked a little short of heartbreak when I told him that your home was in England now. I don't think that he understood that you were leaving for good when you left. I think he was under the impression that you were going on holiday. _

_I'm sorry that the local girls aren't nicer. I know that the girls here miss you. Belle, especially. She sought me out yesterday specifically to tell me that she misses you just as much as I do, and that if I should want to talk about it then she would be more than willing to listen. It was a nice gesture but I don't think I'd be comfortable talking to Belle about it. I don't think I'd be comfortable talking to anyone about it, really._

_I really do miss you, Ava. As much as I enjoy spending time with my brothers, especially Klaus, it's not the same as spending time with you. I suppose I will get used to it after time. _

_My mother asked me to pass on her well wishes to your parents. She said that she hopes you have all settled into your new life and are enjoying England. _

_Elijah._

Elijah and Ava continued to swap letters for a few months. It was difficult to keep up a conversation given the fact that each letter took so long to arrive. Elijah felt a jolt of excitement whenever a new scroll of parchment arrived for him. He loved reading Ava's words, they were a comfort to him. He was pleased that she hadn't seemed to forgotten him so far.

However, as the months passed, the letters that they sent grew further and further apart until they dried out altogether. The last letter that Elijah received from Ava was shortly before his 16th birthday. Their conversation had been dwindling in content for months now and he could not bring himself to reply to her last letter. It was with a slightly mournful air that Elijah placed the last letter he received from her into a box which contained the rest of her letters and placed it some where safe. He had decided against replying, because there had been nothing to reply to. He assumed that she wouldn't mind. They had both known that this moment would come. They had both known that the end of their friendship had been a certainty the moment she had left. He had found that he was able to live without her. He had made other friends that filled the hole that Ava had left. Of course, he missed her, but it was a feeling that was lessened with each day of her absence.

**1****st**** September, 1006**

_Elijah,_

_You don't write to me anymore. I can't say I'm surprised; it was always going to come to this, given the fact that we live so far apart. I'm not really sure why I'm writing. I feel lonely today. Lonelier than usual. Mama says that I'm being ridiculous and that it's time to move on with my life. She says I should make more of an effort with my new friends. I know that you have moved on and that our friendship is nothing but a memory to you anymore, but I just need to tell you something, something that I should have told you a long, long time ago. _

_I love you, Elijah. I have always loved you and I miss you so much it hurts. I could never bring myself to tell you this before I left because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I'm sorry to spring this on you like this so suddenly, I just had to tell somebody and who better to tell than you? _

_Anyway, I'm sorry to have bothered you with such a pointless letter. I promise that, after this, I won't write again. No doubt you have much more important things to be doing that reading the insignificant ramblings of an old friend. _

_I wish you all the best._

_Ava._

Ava set down her quill and read over her letter. Elijah hadn't replied to her last letter and she saw no reason why he would reply to this one, either. She hadn't planned on writing him another letter until earlier that day when she'd felt a sudden pang of loneliness when she saw her brother and Henry talking animatedly about their plans for the weekend and had been forcibly reminded of her and Elijah in the height of their friendship. She looked over her letter again, checking over her spelling and ensuring that everything made sense when she realised how utterly stupid she sounded. Elijah wouldn't care for what she had to say, even if she was declaring her love for him! They were friends - or at least, they had been - that was all. Embarrassed at herself for believing for even a second that Elijah would be interested in hearing from her, she tore the letter into pieces and dropped it into the fire.


	5. Chapter 4

**22nd**** May 1016**

11 years had passed since Ava had left France and Elijah had all but forgotten her. When he thought of her he thought only of how it had been ridiculous to believe he had been in love with her. He had been only 15 years old, it was ridiculous to assume that he even knew what love was at that age. He had found a much better match in a girl named Belle. Belle had been a close friend of Ava's and after her departure, he and Belle had grown closer, eventually engaging in a courtship in their early 20s. Elijah was now 27 and was preparing to propose to Belle, whom he considered to be the love of his life.

He sat at the dining table at his home watching Belle converse with his mother. She was beautiful. Her blonde hair was made even more so in the light of the sun and made her look nothing short of an angel. As though she sensed him watching, Belle turned and shot him a brief smile before turning back to his mother. Elijah smirked to himself; everything had worked itself out and now, he couldn't be happier.

**25****th**** May 1016**

Today was the day. No one but Elijah and his family knew that today he would be proposing to Belle in front of almost the whole town. Everyone had been invited to the event - it was a good job that their house was big enough to accommodate everyone - and soon enough people would start arriving.

Elijah came down the stairs of his house and watched as everyone - his family and others that had volunteered to help - went about setting everything up so that everything would be perfect for when he got down on one knee and presented Belle with a ring that been in his family for years. His grandmother had given it to him a couple of years previously and told him that he was to give it to the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He couldn't think of anyone he wanted to spend his life with other than Belle.

"Nervous?" Muttered Bryden as he and Elijah stood at the entrance to their home shaking the hands of those arriving and welcoming them.

"Would it be strange is I said no?" Elijah replied quietly, shaking the hand of a villager he knew only by sight.

"I don't know. I've never been in your position." Bryden replied with a smile. "I shouldn't think that you should have to be nervous, though. Belle is obviously just as in love with you as you are with her."

Elijah couldn't help the smirk that came to his lips at these words. Although he already knew that Belle loved him - she had told him many a time - it was nice to hear it from the mouth of another.

"Elijah?"

Elijah turned to find his mother hurrying towards them looking harried. "Yes, mother?"

"You haven't seen Niklaus, have you?"

"No."

She sighed in exasperation. "He _promised _he would be on time! That boy!" she exclaimed in annoyance before hurrying off, no doubt to find their father in the hope that he would be able to remedy the situation.

"It's not exactly unlike Klaus to be late, though, is it?" Bryden said, staring after their mother.

"Not at all." Elijah replied though, he too, was irritated with his brother. Klaus knew how important this day was. He also knew that Elijah had wanted all their family there when he asked Belle to marry him.

"Where could he possibly be, though?" Bryden continued. "The whole town is here."

Elijah's answer was lost for Belle had just arrived. She looked exquisite in a dress of the finest cream silk and her hair had been pulled up so that her neck was exposed. He knew, in that moment, that he loved with everything he had.

"Elijah," she said in a way of greeting, holding out her hand. He took it and pressed it to his lips, never once taking his eyes off her. Having had enough of greeting people, he took Belle's hand and lead her into the party, leaving Bryden alone.

"This is quite a gathering." Belle commented, smiling around at those in the vicinity.

"Indeed." Elijah replied. Despite having told his brother that he wasn't nervous, now that Belle had actually arrived, his mouth was becoming dry and there were knots in his stomach. What if she said no? He couldn't imagine anything worse, being turned down in front of so many people.

"You look nervous."

Belle's voice broke through his reverie. She was looking up at him with an expression of concern. He tried to smile though he suspected it looked more like a grimace.

"I'm fine." He lied.

Smiling, she raised her hand and pressed it to his cheek. Far from calming him, it only caused the knots in his stomach to tighten as he thought about what lay ahead.

"Elijah!"

Elijah turned to find his brother hurrying towards him, grinning broadly.

"Where have you been!" He demanded.

Klaus ignored this question. "You'll never guess who's back in town!"

Elijah rolled his eyes. Did Klaus honestly think that, given what was currently happening, he cared who was visiting?

"I'm not sure I care." Elijah snapped.

"Oh believe me, I think you will."

Before Elijah could ask who, he heard Belle gasp from beside him. He looked down at her with a small frown before following her gaze. Any other thought that might have been running through his mind at that moment was pushed to the back as his gaze landed on someone he had given up hope of ever seeing again. Next to him, he could see Klaus grinning, but he didn't register it as his eyes were all but glued to the girl that was slowly wending her way through the crowds of people. She looked older - of course she did, it had been 11 years since he'd last seen her - than the last time he'd seen her. She'd transformed from a teenager into an elegant woman. As soon as she was close enough, Klaus extended his hand to her and she took it. She smiled up at him before turning her gaze on Elijah.

"Hello." she said simply.

Elijah could do nothing but stare at her. She looked…amazing. She was breathtaking. He, now more than ever, regretted their separation. Her voice had lost some of its accent - no doubt a result of living in England for over a decade - but was still as captivating as it had been when she was 14.

"Ava!" exclaimed Belle from beside him. Ava smiled at her, though he thought he detected a slightly bitterness in the smile she bestowed upon his soon-to-be fiancée. Belle dropped his hand and pulled Ava away, talking animatedly to her in French. Belle seemed thrilled to see her former friend and was wasting no time in bringing her up to speed with everything that had happened in the 11 years she had been gone.

Still speechless, Elijah turned to Klaus who was staring after Belle and Ava rather wistfully.

"I told you so." he said, turning his gaze on Elijah.


	6. Chapter 5

**25th**** May, 1016**

"Wh-…H-How is she here!" Elijah exclaimed, gaping at his brother.

"It's a funny story, actually." said Klaus. "Apparently, she was engaged to some nobleman from England and wished to get married here in France, but something happened and the engagement was broken off, but she wished to come back anyway." Klaus told him.

"How long has she been back?"

"A day or so. Not long."

"And you thought that bringing her here was the best way to let me know that she was back?" Elijah demanded furiously. He had, up until 5 minutes ago, believed that Belle was the love of his life…until the actual love of his life had turned up. He had thought that his feelings for Ava were long gone. If anything, they had increased a hundredfold, something he had only realised when she had reappeared. He had become dumbfounded at her mere presence, something that no one, not even Belle, had ever managed to do.

"Well, I see no reason why I shouldn't have brought her here." Klaus replied defensively. "You were best friends before she left, were you not? I thought you'd be pleased!"

Pleased that his feelings were now latched onto a woman that was not the woman he was planning on proposing to? Of course Klaus would not understand, no one but himself had been aware that his feelings for Ava had been deeper than that of friendship. He glanced over at Belle who was now talking to her mother and felt a twinge of apprehension. If he had been nervous about what he was about to do before, it was nothing to how he felt now. His eyes roved through the crowd until he sought out Ava. She was standing alone, watching the people around her with a mildly interested expression.  
>Elijah approached her nervously. What did one say to someone after 11 years of solid silence?<p>

"Ava?"

She looked up. She raised an eyebrow very slightly when she saw who was approaching her and did not smile.

"Hello, Elijah."

Elijah looked at her for a few moments, wondering what to say next. Welcome back? How are you? They all seemed a little too blasé.

"Surprised?" He said, finally, referring to his courtship with Belle.

"About you and Belle? Not at all."

Elijah frowned. "You're not?"

"No, of course not. When you wrote to me and told me that she had offered you a shoulder to cry on, I knew exactly what she was up to."

Elijah was confused, but it had all happened so long ago, he couldn't remember the finer details, his memory had never been as sharp as Ava's.

"So, uhm…" He wracked his brains desperately for a change of subject. "Klaus tells me you were engaged?" Despite himself, he felt a flash of jealousy at the unknown man who had almost had her hand in marriage.

"Mhm. He was a horrible man." Ava replied indifferently.

"Oh."

Elijah looked down at the floor and cleared his throat. It was strange not being able to keep up a fluent conversation with Ava. They had been able to talk for hours when they were younger. How times had changed.

"It's good to have you back." He tried, looking up again. This did nothing to help the flow of the conversation. Her expression was stone cold and her tone was bitter.

"Is it? I really didn't think you'd care, not after you stopped writing to me." Without waiting for a response, she walked past him, straight into the arms of his brother who had been approaching the two of them with a smile. He watched them in dismay. Was this how it was going to be? Would she start up a relationship with his brother, leaving him to marry Belle? Would he have to watch in envy as they started up their own family?

"Elijah,"

He turned to find Belle walking towards him and immediately felt guilty. He did love Belle. Admittedly, not like he loved Ava, but he still loved her. With one last glance over at where his brother and Ava were now conversing, he pulled himself together with a smile. He would not pine over the girl he had lost when he was 15, he would concentrate on starting his new life with Belle, who was soon to be his wife.

"May I have everyone's attention?"

Elijah was stood, the centre of attention, with Belle at his side. Everyone was looking up at him expectantly, except his family, who were all looking at him excitedly. He cleared his throat unnecessarily and looked out over the sea of faces, all of whom were focused on him.

"Firstly, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for coming today. I know I speak for both me and my family when I say it's a pleasure. Secondly," he looked down at Belle and tried to fix a smile upon his features. "Belle…you came during my darkest hour. You brought me back to the light and gave me a new purpose…" even as he was saying the words, they sounded like lies to his own ears, but he didn't stop. He chanced a glance at Ava, who was stood next to Klaus and watching him with narrowed eyes. He looked back at Belle who was looking up at him with a loving expression. "Never, in my whole life, have I ever felt for another the way I feel for you…" he reached into his pocket and brought out the small box that held his grandmother's ring and got down on one knee. Gasps erupted all around them and Belle's expression changed to one of shock. He urged himself to keep looking into her eyes and not to look away and seek out the gaze of the girl he wished was stood in front of him, but, who he also wished, had never come back and forced him to realise his true feelings.

"Belle Laurent, will you do the honour of becoming my wife?"

Belle was looking down at him in pure shock. Apparently, she hadn't suspected a thing. She stared at him for a few moments before letting a grin break through the shock.

"Yes! Of course I will!" She exclaimed, causing everyone to break out into applause. Elijah stood up just in time as Belle threw herself into his arms. Over the many people that were now converging upon the pair of them, he saw Ava watching the scene with a hard expression. He caught her eye and they stared at each other for a moment before Klaus came forward and sparked up a conversation. He offered Ava his arm, which she took, and led her away from the crowd.

His attention was brought back to the current situation when his parents reached them. His mother wrapped her arms around him, apparently speechless with emotion, whilst his father grasped Belle's hands between his own and offered his congratulations.

Elijah did not know how long the congratulatory period of time went on. All he knew was that he shook more hands and received more congratulations from more people than he knew even lived in their town. By the time the initial melee had subsided, he was rather tired and utterly confused. Belle had left long ago, insisting that she needed a good nights sleep before they started planning the now much anticipated wedding.

Elijah stood alone outside the house breathing in the cool, evening air. His family had long since retreated inside, leaving him to gather his thoughts.

"I believe a congratulations are in order." Came a quiet voice from his left. He turned quickly to find Ava approaching him slowly wearing a rather bitter smile.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I'm sorry that I stopped writing."

She shrugged. "No matter. I replaced you easily enough."

He felt as though someone had slapped him across the face. Had he really been _that _easy to substitute? "Really?"

"Mhm. A boy named Joshua. He was so very charming. I had rather hoped that my parents would pair me up with him, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

Elijah stared at her. He couldn't tell whether she was lying or not. Her eyes gave nothing away as he stared desperately into them, trying to decipher the truth. She had changed more than he could have anticipated; there had been a time he could read her like a book…he had been able to finish her sentences for her or know what she was thinking just by looking at her. How times had changed.

"What about the man your parents did pair you up with? Was he charming?"

A dark look passed over her face. "If by 'charming' you mean 'an atrocious human being' then yes, he was."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Before Ava could reply, Klaus appeared behind Elijah, coming through the gateway that led to their house.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, his eyes resting on his brother for a moment before landing on Ava. "Might I escort you home?"

Ava smiled indulgently at him. "Of course." She walked past Elijah and threaded her arm through Klaus', sparing Elijah only a glance.

"Goodnight, Elijah." She called from over her shoulder.


	7. Chapter 6

**26th**** May, 1016**

Elijah awoke abruptly the next day to the sound of chimes of laughter echoing through the house. Still groggy with sleep, Elijah pushed himself up into a sitting position and sat with his hand over his eyes, listening to the conversation coming from what sounded like the next room.

"Are you parents returning also? And your brother?" came Klaus' voice.

"No, I'm afraid not." said Ava.

"Pity. I'd have liked to see your brother again and I'm sure my parents would have liked to reacquaint themselves with yours."

"Indeed. Maybe one day."

He heard the sounds of chairs being pushed back and hastily lay down on his bed. He didn't want to see or speak to Ava. He had to concentrate on Belle. _Belle _was his fiancée, it was her that deserved his undivided attention and he knew if he laid eyes on or spoke to Ava that he would only end up thinking of her when he ought to be focusing on Belle and their upcoming wedding.

"What would you like to do today, my lovely?" Klaus' voice drew nearer as he heard both of their footsteps draw closer.

"I'd like to walk. It's been quite a while since I've been here. I grew rather nostalgic before returning, I must say."

Their footsteps faded along with their conversation and Elijah got up from his bed just in time to see them through the window, leaving the property through the gate. Ava's arm was threaded through Klaus'. They looked a little too cosy for Elijah's liking.

Three hours later, Elijah was seated at the table in the drawing room poring over extensive wedding plans that apparently had to be sorted immediately with his parents, Belle and her parents. Elijah could not help but let his thoughts wander; his opinion did not seem to matter and the majority of the plans were being decided by Belle's parents and his own. No one seemed to notice when he tried to have some input. His thoughts strayed tantalisingly close to the girl he had vowed not to think about. It was fortunate that, at that moment, the conversation turned to him, thus breaking through his reverie and pulling his thoughts sharply away from Ava.

"Have you given any thought to who you would like as your best man, Elijah?" asked his mother, Leda.

"Not really." Elijah replied. Of course, he knew it ought to be one of his brothers, but which one? He had three.

His attention wandered again as everyone around the table, aside from himself, launched into a discussion about guests. Who to invite, who not to invite, that sort of thing.

It wasn't until some time later that Belle's parents decided that they had got through enough for one day. The meeting broke up and both Belle's and Elijah's parents departed from the room, leaving Belle and Elijah alone together for the first time since the previous day. Elijah realised that it was actually the first time they'd been alone since getting engaged.

"Isn't this all so exciting?" Belle gushed, reaching forward to take one of his hands. Before Elijah could answer he noticed, through the window behind Belle, Ava and Klaus returning from whatever they had been doing. Ava was smiling up at Klaus as they engaged in what looked like an animated conversation. Her pale skin had acquired a sun-kissed appearance and she had entwined a flower through her hair. Belle, having obviously noticed his distraction, followed his gaze out of the window to wear Ava and Klaus now stood.

"Wouldn't it be so lovely if Ava and Klaus began courting?"

"Would it?" Elijah said with a frown.

Belle turned away from the window, also frowning. "You don't think so?"

Elijah shrugged as though this was a throw away question of no particular importance. "I've never really given it any thought."

Belle surveyed Elijah curiously as he watched Ava bid Klaus goodbye. "I thought you'd be pleased that Ava has returned." said Belle.

Elijah sighed. "So did I."

Belle didn't look like she understood, but she didn't pursue the subject.

**31****st**** May, 1016**

Elijah didn't see Ava for a few days and as far as he knew, neither had Klaus. Having had successfully immersed himself in wedding plans, Elijah had finally been able to stop his mind from wandering over thoughts of Ava. That was, until, he bumped into her on his way over to Belle's house. Her spotted her walking alone through the streets, apparently aimlessly. Her hair was tied up today and had been twisted into an elegant knot at the base of her neck. He watched her longingly. He wanted to talk to her, but he couldn't. He knew that if he did, he'd be unable to concentrate when he arrived at Belle's. He needed to concentrate on Belle.

It wasn't until she caught sight of him that he made his resolve. Although her gaze was not friendly or welcoming in the least, he couldn't help but hurry over.

"Ava!" he exclaimed as he caught up to her.

"Hello, Elijah." She replied crisply without stopping.

"How are you?"

"Fine, thank you."

"I'm sorry." he blurted out, causing her to stop. She looked up at him in confusion.

"For what?"

"Because I stopped writing to you. I'm really sorry. Truly."

"I forgive you." She said with a small smile.

"I-uh, what?"

"I forgive you." She said slowly.

Elijah stared at her. Judging by the way she had spoken to him last night, Elijah had assumed it was going to take a lot more than 'I'm sorry' to earn her forgiveness. A strand of hair had fallen from its up-do. Elijah had to suppress the urge to push it back behind her ear. He cleared his throat, reminding himself that his fiancée was _Belle_.

"Really?"

"Yes. It was a long time ago, Elijah. We don't need to dwell on it."

Elijah was somewhat relieved, though his relief did not last long.

"So where are you going?"

"I'm going to meet your brother, actually. He's so very charming, don't you think?"

Elijah grimaced. Yes, Klaus could be incredibly charming when he wanted to be. Almost as though he had heard Ava speak of him, Klaus himself appeared.

"Brother!" he exclaimed, catching sight of Elijah and Ava.

"Klaus!" said Ava in obvious delight. "We were just talking about you!"

"Is that so?" he said pleasantly, taking Ava's hand and pressing his lips against it.

For what seemed like the tenth time since Ava had returned, Elijah felt a hot burst of jealousy flash through him.

"Well, this is where I leave you. Belle is expecting me. Goodbye Ava, Klaus." Elijah said tightly.

"Goodbye!" Ava and Klaus said in unison before walking in the opposite direction. They both seemed incredibly comfortable with each other, despite the fact they'd only been spending time together for the week that Ava had been back.

Elijah turned his back on the pair of them and resumed his walk over to Belle's house.


	8. Chapter 7

**31st**** May, 1016**

Elijah returned home hours later after poring over extensive wedding plans with Belle and her parents. He had had no idea how much hard work had to be put into the organisation of a wedding. It was extremely tiring.

He found his sister, Aurelia, at the gates of their home with a broom, sweeping dust from the ground. She looked up when she heard his footsteps and stopped sweeping. She glanced behind her at something Elijah could not see before turning back to him and speaking.

"Busy day?" she asked.

"Very." he replied, suppressing a yawn. He was now close enough to see that the thing that Aurelia had glanced at was in fact his brother, Klaus, and Ava sat together in the far corner of the yard on a stone bench. Elijah suppressed a look of anger. He couldn't get away from them! Everywhere he went, there they were. It was infuriating.

"Are you ok?" Aurelia asked him, looking at him with concern.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he said shortly.

Aurelia looked at him. There was something a little too knowing in the look she gave him. He had a nasty feeling that his sister knew exactly what was going on inside his head.

"Where is everyone else?" Elijah asked, noting that it seemed rather quiet. Apart from Aurelia, Ava and Klaus, the yard was deserted.

"Inside, I believe. Mother is insisting on picking out garments for your wedding as soon as possible."

"Why are you out here?"

"I'm growing tired of the incessant wedding talk." She said apologetically. "I told mother I needed some air."

"Why isn't he inside, then?" he gestured towards Klaus.

"I think mother's hoping that the more time he spends with Ava, the more likely he is to marry her."

"She wants him married to Ava?"

"She wants him married to anyone. Surely you noticed that, until Ava came back, he was making his way through every girl in town? She wants him tamed."

At that moment, Ava appeared behind them, apparently leaving. Klaus was watching her from the bench with a soft expression. Elijah almost did a double take. Was it possible that Klaus - the brother who had once claimed that one woman would never be enough - had fallen in love? If so, why did it have to be with the girl that Elijah also happened to be in love with? Talk about bad luck.

Ava smiled at Aurelia and Elijah as she passed.

"Goodnight." she said, giving them both a small smile.

"Goodnight." chorused Elijah and Aurelia.

**2****nd**** June, 1016**

"For the tenth time, Electra, I don't know! You'll have to talk to Belle!" said Elijah.

"But we're your _sisters_!" cried Electra, gesturing towards herself, Aurelia and Alistina who were all following Elijah around eagerly. "We should be the bridesmaids!"

"Girls," Elijah stopped walking and turned around. "Since Belle is the _bride_ it is entirely her decision who are the _brides_maids!"

"I'll remember this when I get married." snapped Alistina.

"I bet all the boys have roles in the wedding, don't they?" asked Electra.

"Well, given the fact that that decision lies with me, of course. Evander and Bryden will be my groomsmen and Klaus will be my best man."

All three girls folded their arms and scowled.

"How unfair!" complained Aurelia.

"Take it up with Belle, girls!"

There was a pause within which all three girls looked at one another with disgruntled expressions before Aurelia spoke again.

"What about Ava?"

"What about her?" Elijah asked, slightly confused.

"Is she coming to the wedding?"

"Oh," Elijah hadn't actually thought about it. Given the fact he was already having trouble keeping his thoughts away from Ava when he was with Belle as it was, he thought it would probably be a bad idea, having Ava there on the actual day. "Oh I expect she'll have better things to be doing than a wedding." Elijah said lightly with a small laugh.

"Have you actually asked her?" said Alistina raising an eyebrow.

"No, but I'm sure the wedding of an old friend won't be of much importance to her."

"That's where you're wrong, brother!" Klaus came striding through the gate that Elijah had been heading too, smiling broadly.

"Excuse me?" said Elijah.

"I already asked her if she'd like to attend. She said she'd be delighted."

Brilliant, thought Elijah. Just what I need, he thought to himself bitterly.

**15****th**** June, 1016**

Elijah stood at the altar, waiting patiently for his bride-to-be.

His family and Belle's had truly outdone themselves; a large, white marquee had been constructed, under which he and his guests now stood beneath.

Belle had chosen pale blue for the colour scheme, so Elijah's clothes were made up of pale blue and dark blue. It was supposed to contrast, apparently. There were ribbons of pale blue that had spread to each corner of the marquee. Chairs had been set out on either side of the altar for both Elijah's guests and Belle's. All of them were sat in their places, gazing around the marquee in interest. Every now and then their gaze would rest on Elijah for a few moments.

Elijah's brother and best man, Klaus, arrived with a beautiful woman on his arm. Not just any woman, but the object of Elijah's desire, Ava. She looked breathtakingly beautiful, more so than usual. He felt the usual hot jealousy at the sight of them, but, as usual, did nothing. His attention could not be diverted today. He would not allow it. In fact, during the days leading up to the wedding, he had vowed never to let his thoughts stray further than Belle. Of course, he had made the same vow numerous times, but this time he would stick to it. He had to. By the end of the day, Ava would be his wif- Belle! _BELLE _would be his wife. Damn it, he thought to himself.

He watched as Ava took her seat next to his sister, Aurelia, who - along with both of her sisters - looked thoroughly disgruntled at not being picked to be bridesmaids - and Klaus, followed by Bryden and Evander, made his way up the aisle towards Elijah.

"Nervous, brother?" he asked with a smirk as soon as he was in earshot.

"Not at all." he replied with a smile. It was true, he and Klaus hadn't been getting on as well as they once had in recent weeks, but he was glad that he had picked Klaus as his best man. Out of all his brothers, Klaus was his best friend.

A beautiful silence fell over the room when Belle entered. She looked amazing. Her blonde hair had been twisted into an intricate up-do and her pale blue dress clung to her figure in all the right places. She had a hold of her fathers arm and was smiling around at the guests until her eyes fell on Elijah. Her smile broke into a grin, which Elijah returned. He wished, with all his heart, that the sight of her would have pushed every other thought from his mind, that her appearance would have caused fireworks to start shooting through his body, but no such luck.


	9. Chapter 8

**15****th**** June, 1016**

The remainder of the day passed in a surreal blur. Somehow, Elijah managed to keep his thoughts firmly on what he was supposed to and didn't let them stray to that which he had sworn not to.

Everyone smiled and clapped when Elijah and Belle were pronounced husband and wife, and when they had their first dance as man and wife. Everyone seemed to have been filled with joy. Everyone except for Elijah, that is. He felt trapped; the prospect of a lifetime with Belle did not fill him with the happiness he had expected. It was all Ava's fault, he thought with anger. Had she not returned, he would have been blissfully unaware of his feelings for her, and he would be happy beyond reason.

_Would you, though?_ Asked the voice in his head.

Yes! He thought furiously.

There was nothing he could do. He had married Belle and that was that. It had been his choice, no one had forced him into it. Though, he had felt like he couldn't back out of it, he couldn't hurt Belle like that, so in a way he had had no choice in marrying her, since he knew perfectly well that everyone would have been incredibly disappointed in him, had he backed out of their engagement. He would have been branded a disloyal scoundrel.

Dusk set in; the sky was periwinkle blue and the air was cool. It was the perfect setting.

Most of the guests were relaxing, chatting or dancing. It was an extremely relaxed attitude.

Elijah and Belle were in the centre of the dance floor, swaying to the music that was floating through the room.

"I love you." Whispered Belle, pressing her lips to his for a moment. When she pulled back, her expression was radiant.

"And I, you." replied Elijah, guilt twisting his stomach into knots.

She gave him an adoring smile and opened her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by her mother.

"Darling, I'm so sorry to interrupt but it's your grandfather." Marie looked worried and her eyes were sparkling with tears.

"What's wrong?" asked Belle, letting go of Elijah immediately. Elijah knew that Belle's grandfather was old, weak and ill, but he had wanted to come to the wedding given the fact that it may well be the last one of his grandchildren he would ever get to see married.

Marie shook her head. "He's fading fast, I had your sister take him home but…it isn't looking good, sweetheart."

Belle, her expression full of utter grief, looked between her mother and Elijah several times, evidently torn between her desire to be with her grandfather during his last moments and her desire to not hurt Elijah's feelings.

"Go," Elijah said quietly, taking her hand.

"Oh, are you sure?" She said, grasping his hand.

"Of course, your family needs you. We have all the time in the world."

Belle gave him a wavering smile before hurrying off with her mother. Elijah let out a sigh.

He watched Belle leave with her parents, looking utterly depressed.

He glanced around the room, hoping to find someone he could talk with, just so he didn't look awkward wandering around by himself.

It so happened that the only person who wasn't already engaged in a conversation of some sort was Ava. She was sat alone at a table looking down at her hands. Though he knew he ought to stay away from her, she looked so lonely sat by herself and so he made his way over to her, seating himself in the seat next to hers.

"Where's Klaus?" he asked.

She looked up and shrugged. "I don't know. The last time I saw him he was arguing with your father."

"No change there then." Elijah said bitterly. Ava smiled.

"Congratulations, by the way." said Ava, still smiling. There was something sad in her expression, though Elijah couldn't think why.

"Thank you."

Her eyes roved across the room for a moment, looking for Klaus perhaps, when she sighed.

"Since your brother has disappeared, I think I'll be heading home."

"Would you like me to walk you back?"

She stared at him, confused. "I'd have thought you would want to spend tonight with your new wife."

"She had to go - family issues." he explained.

"Oh, in that case, of course."

"So how goes your relationship with my brother?" Elijah asked as he and Ava walked through the dark streets of Lagrasse.

Ava giggled. "Your brother is very sweet."

"Is that so?" Elijah said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yes. Very much so."

"Lovely."

When they reached Ava's home - the same place she'd lived when she was a child, having bought it back when she'd returned - they turned to face each other.

"Would you like to come inside? It's still relatively early."

Elijah thought for a moment. It wasn't like he had anything else to do, what with Belle with her family.

"I'd love to."

They walked inside together in silence. Elijah had never been more aware of her presence than he was right now. He'd also never been less aware of the fact that he was a taken man and therefore what he was feeling for the girl next to him was wrong. It isn't an issue, he told himself firmly. She is with Klaus and I am with Belle, he thought.

_It's an issue if you can't stop thinking about her as opposed to the woman you just married, _said the irritating voice of reason inside his head.

"So, how are your parents?" Elijah asked, closing the front doors behind him.

"My parents?" Ava stopped in her tracks. "The-they're fine."

"And your brother?"

"All fine." There was something unnatural about the smile she gave him before changing the subject.

"Belle's dress was beautiful." she said.

"It was."

"You must be very proud, having such a beautiful wife?"

Elijah smiled but did not answer. She was right, Belle was beautiful, extremely beautiful.

She led them both into the kitchen where she sat down at the table in the middle of the room. Elijah took the seat opposite.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Please."

Ava got up and busied herself with fixing their drinks. When she came back, she handed Elijah a goblet and their fingers brushed against each other for a fraction of a second. It was as though sparks of electricity were flying between them. He was sure, judging by the look on her face, that she felt it too.

"So," she cleared her throat, "how does it feel to be married man?"

"Not so different." he said, gazing at her. Apparently, she noticed the intensity of his gaze for, after holding his gaze for a few moments, she looked away, a pink flush colouring her cheeks. Now that they were alone, he was finding it harder than ever not to let inappropriate thoughts develop.

"Belle's a lucky woman." Ava said, standing up.

"Why's that?" Elijah asked, mirroring her movement and standing up. They were close enough that it could be deemed too close. It was hard to think of anything but Ava now that he had her alone, away from Klaus and he away from Belle. He knew perfectly well that it was wrong, and that he should walk away, but he couldn't help himself. He'd been in love with her since his teenage years, whether he'd known it or not, how did one fight that kind of attraction?

Ava swallowed, but she didn't look away. "Because she got to marry you."

And then he kissed her.


	10. Chapter 9

**15****th**** June, 1016**

Ava's reaction was instantaneous. She didn't hesitate in kissing Elijah back and pulling him close. It wasn't in the gentle, almost hesitant way that Elijah kissed Belle. No, this was urgent, passionate and fervent.

Somehow, they made it to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind them. As soon as they reached the bed, Elijah pushed Ava down and climbed on top of her. He trailed kisses down her neck, pulling back only so he could press his lips back to hers.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips as he felt her hands sliding down his back. "I love you so much."

Ava didn't trouble herself to reply, but he felt her lips pull upwards into a smile.

**16th June, 1016**

Elijah awoke the next morning just as the sun was rising. It took him a moment or two to realise where he was, and then another moment to realise why he was there and what had happened the night before. A small smile came to him lips as all the delicious memories came rushing back; the feel of his lips against the skin of the woman he'd desired for so very long, the way Ava had bitten down on her bottom lip and cried out his name when she could no longer contain herself were just a few of the memories that caused the smile on his lips to become a grin. He turned over and let his gaze fall on Ava who was lying next to him. She looked so peaceful sleeping. He ran a finger down her cheekbone, withdrawing it hastily when she stirred; he didn't want to wake her.

Elijah lay, watching the sun creep further and further into the room, illuminating it with it's soft glow. He sighed contentedly, he felt happier than he had in a long time.

As the sunlight caused the room to grow gradually lighter, Ava woke up. She opened her eyes and sat up, pushing a hand through her hair. Elijah watched her happily. He sat up and brushed her hair back, exposing her neck and her shoulder.

"Morning," he murmured, pressing his lips to her shoulder. She didn't answer but she didn't push him away either, so he took that as a good sign. "I love you," he whispered, reaching out to turn her face to face him when she jerked away from him.

"Don't say that," she said in a low voice, looking around at him with a horrified expression.

"What's wrong? Did I do something? I don't understand…"

"I think we both did something." Ava snapped.

"Wha-?"

"You're a married man, Elijah! You got married _yesterday_! This was _wrong_."

"Then why didn't you put a stop to it?" Elijah demanded angrily.

"I was caught up in the moment! It seemed like a good idea!"

Without another word, both of them got up from the bed and began hurriedly replacing the clothes they'd all but ripped off each other the night before.

"No one can ever know. We must take this secret to the grave." Ava said as soon as they were both fully clothed again.

Elijah opened his mouth to protest but Ava pressed her finger to his lips. "We will both be punished if knowledge of this ever escapes. _No one can know_. We must continue as we would have had last night never happened."

Elijah returned home in bad spirits. He had had what could have possibly ranked as the best night of his life only to have his euphoria squashed down into a bad mood having seen that Ava didn't seem to share this opinion.  
>When he arrived home, he found that - surprisingly - no one asked him where he had been that night. He supposed that they assumed that he had been with Belle, and Belle would assume that he had been at home. As long as no one asked each other about it, he might just get away with the fact that he had been lying with a woman who was not his wife. It was a long shot, but he saw no reason why anyone would guess where he had really been. Ava wasn't going to tell anyone and he certainly wasn't.<p>

Because Belle was still with her family, Elijah found himself at a loose end. Now that the wedding was over, there wasn't an awful lot to be doing. His mood was spiralling downwards as he reflected on the events of that morning. Didn't Ava love him, too? She had kissed him back, hadn't she? She had participated in what could only be described as incredible love-making, hadn't she? Surely she wouldn't have done that if she didn't have at least some feelings for him? His bad mood only worsened when he heard Klaus and Ava in the room next to the one he was sat in. He felt a flash of extreme jealousy at the fact that Klaus got to see her daily, he could kiss her and hold her hand in public without having to worry about anyone spotting them. It was incredibly unfair. Elijah had been in love with Ava since he was a teenager, shouldn't he be the one to do that sort of thing with her? He had loved her the longest and by all means the most.

He could hear Ava giggling at something Klaus was saying. Urgh, he thought to himself, just when he thought that day couldn't get any worse. He was about to get up and leave so that he wouldn't have to listen to anymore when he heard something that caught his attention.

"Are you going to tell me the real reason you returned?" came Klaus' voice. Elijah frowned to himself, what was Klaus talking about?

"I'm not sure I understand…" said Ava.

"You're a good liar, but I'm better. I know that you're hiding something."

"No, I'm not."

"Well I know that your engagement wasn't just broken off for no apparent reason, if at all. You're hiding something. Tell me."

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"Tell me." Klaus repeated. He didn't say it forcefully, he said it very gently, in fact, but there was something in his voice, like a stroke of authority. There was a lengthy pause within which Elijah guessed that Klaus was staring at her intensely. It was something that he did a lot when digging for the truth. He had used it on many of his siblings, including Elijah, many a time. Elijah was listening intently. He had no idea where Klaus had gotten the idea that Ava was hiding something from; he hadn't seen anything that had indicated that she was hiding something and he'd spent the night with her. What could Klaus have possibly noticed that he hadn't?

"If I tell you, this stays between us and us alone, do you understand?"

"Of course. It'll be our little secret." Even though Elijah could not see Klaus, he could hear the smirk in his voice.

"I ran away."

Elijah gasped - very quietly, though. He didn't want them to find him eavesdropping.

"Why?"

"My fiancé, Alexander, he was a vile man. Once our parents made the suggestion than he and I get married, he immediately made me his property in every sense of the word. He didn't treat me like you would treat a prized possession, though."

"What do you me-" Klaus' voice trailed off into silence. Elijah wondered what Ava was showing him.

"He did this to you?" Klaus asked angrily.

"I spoke out of turn, apparently it's improper for a woman to do so."

"Your parents though, didn't you tell them?"

"They knew." Ava said bitterly. "They knew perfectly well what was going on. They heard it, every bit of it. They heard me sobbing, begging him to stop, but they did nothing. Alexander's family are both powerful and wealthy. Better to have me married to him, bringing wealth and power to our family, than not at all, even if it did result in me being beaten within an inch of my life."

"I'm sorry," said Klaus sincerely. "What will you do if he finds you?"

"I'll run away."

"Can I come with you?"

"Your place is here, with your family. It will do you no good to run away with me when I've no idea where it will take me."

"My place is with you." said Klaus. Elijah felt sick, not just because Klaus was making plans to run away with Ava if she ever needed to, but because of this man that Ava spoke of. How could he do such a thing, especially to her? She was so beautiful and kind and gentle, she was the epitome of niceness.

"I'll protect you, if he ever comes for you."

Ava laughed. "I hope it will not come to that, but thank you."


	11. Chapter 10

**17th**** June, 1016**

When he awoke the next day, he found himself in a worse mood than he had been the day before. He was married to the wrong woman and was in love with a woman who, apparently, preferred his brother. He had thought that the night that they had spent together had meant something. It had certainly meant something to him, but - whether out of fear of being found out or not - Ava was acting as though it had never happened, forcing him to do the same.

After overhearing Ava confiding in his brother about her abusive ex - something that had only wounded Elijah further given the fact she had chosen to confide in Klaus and not him - he had gone down to the courtyard, hoping to escape before his presence became known. They had, however, having heard his movements throughout the house, come down just a few moments after him.

"Oh hello, brother." Klaus had said upon catching sight of Elijah.

"Klaus." he said, nodding in acknowledgement. "Ava." He nodded at her, trying to avoid looking at her.

"Hello, Elijah." Ava had replied pleasantly. He'd glanced up to see her smiling at him. Why must she smile at him that way? Did she have any idea the affect that a mere smile had on him? No, of course she did not. She did not know that when she smiled, it was as though a ray of the purest light was illuminating her face, eradicating everything but her from Elijah's line of vision.

"Where is Belle?" asked Klaus, looking around as though he expected her to walk through the gate.

"Still with her family."

"Is she coming to Electra's birthday celebration later this week?"

"Given the circumstances, I should assume not."

"That's a shame." Klaus said, smiling at his brother apologetically as he took Ava's hand. "Come on, sweetheart." he said, turning to her.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Ava smiled and let him lead her out of the courtyard. Elijah watched them go morosely.

As it transpired, Belle was able to attend his sister's birthday celebrations. Her grandfather's health seemed to be improving and it was no longer imperative that the whole family stay clustered around his bed in the event of his death.

"Once my grandfather has been restored to full health, we'll be able to take up a permanent residence in _our _home." said Belle to Elijah during an afternoon walk around the town. It was the first time they'd spent together since their wedding and Elijah did not at all feel as though they were husband and wife. He felt a spasm of nerves when she mentioned their home; both their parents had put their gold together and bought Elijah and Belle a marital home where they could start their new lives together. Elijah wasn't entirely sure how he felt about living with Belle all day every day.

**18****th**** June, 1016**

Elijah was dancing with Belle though his eyes would frequently drift over to where Ava was so happily dancing with Klaus. As he watched, Ava laughed at something that Klaus said and Klaus twirled her around. He wished more than anything that it was him making her laugh like that. She looked so happy with him.

Ava seemed to sense him watching them, for she turned and gave him a sincere smile. Elijah didn't return it. He was angry, angry that she hadn't trusted him enough to confide in him the way she had in Klaus. Of course, she didn't know that he had heard her tell Klaus he darkest secrets, so her response was, of course, bewilderment.

His whole family were here, all 6 of his siblings and for the first time, no one was arguing, not even his father and Klaus, it made a nice change.

"What's the matter?"

Elijah looked down at Belle who was watching him with concern. He supposed that some of his anger must have spilt out onto his expression. Hastily, he reigned his emotions back in and fixed a smile on his face.

"Nothing, I'm fi-" he stopped talking abruptly for his gaze had just landed on 4 people. 4 people who were the last people he had expected to see here. Belle followed his gaze and gasped, but her gasp was not one of horror, as his would have been had he uttered his horror out loud. He glanced over at Ava and Klaus, who were still happily dancing and laughing together, they had not seen them yet.

Moving through the crowd, obviously looking for Ava, came her parents, her brother and an unfamiliar man who Elijah immediately deduced to be her ex-fiancé. The bastard she had been running from.

Because no one, apart from Klaus, Ava and him (although they didn't know that) knew what had happened back in England that had caused Ava to run away, no one questioned their presence. In fact, his parents and some of his other siblings - his brothers, mostly, since they had been friends with Ava's brother - looked delighted.

"Giselle! Danton! And Louis! My, haven't you grown!" exclaimed Leda, holding out her arms. "And who is this?" she added, looking at the tall, unpleasant-looking man. It wasn't that he was ugly, no. He was actually very good looking, but it was his expression. He was wearing a horribly sly smirk.

"Alexander, ma'am." he took Leda's hand and kissed it.

Ava, who had turned at the sound of her parents names, was staring over at the scene in the utmost horror. Klaus, who had heard Alexander introduce himself to their mother had stepped in front of Ava and adopted a protective stance. Elijah didn't feel the usual flash of utmost envy, he was just glad that someone was there to stand between Ava and _him_.

No one else seemed to have noticed the tension in the room until Alexander stepped forward, his hand outstretched towards Ava who took a step back.

"How did you find me?" she whispered.

"Oh, it wasn't too difficult, darling."

"What do you want?"

"To bring you back to England, of course."

"I'm not coming back with you."

"You will do as you're told." Alexander snapped.

Klaus pushed Ava back a little and took a step forward, glaring at Alexander. All those in the vicinity seemed to have noticed that something was wrong and had gone quiet. Alexander and Klaus glared at each other, sizing each other up, assessing their strengths.

Ava stepped out from behind Klaus, her eyes on her parents. "Why? You must have known why I ran away, I know you did. Why couldn't you leave me be? And why, for the love of God, why did you bring him here?" She turned to her brother. "You promised."

"I didn't tell them, I swear it!" protested Louis who, up until now, had remained silent. He didn't look completely comfortable with the situation; he kept his gaze fixed on the floor and refused to meet anyone's eyes.

"We knew no such thing. We thought you'd been kidnapped!" retorted her father.

"Are you really going to pretend like you had no idea what he was doing to me?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if I were you, young lady, I'd keep that mouth of yours closed."

"Don't you dare act like you didn't know, like you didn't hear me screaming. You heard me calling for you, both of you. Every single day you let him in the house, you let him beat me until I was black, you let him _rape _me!" she was shaking and Elijah could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She was terrified. It broke his heart. He wanted to do something, to protect her from his monster, but Alexander was bigger and no doubt stronger than he was.

There was a collective gasp from those in the vicinity when Ava announced what he had done and Alexander, who had clearly had enough, grabbed her by her upper arm and fixed her with a steely glare. "That's quite enough from you, sweetheart."

Ava struggled against his hold to no avail.

"Let her go."

Klaus had stepped forward and was regarding Alexander with the utmost dislike. Everyone else seemed either too scared or too shocked to do anything else but stare. Elijah saw Belle clap a hand to her mouth out of the corner of his eye.

Alexander laughed. "And who might you be?" He looked down at Ava who was staring at Klaus, silently pleading with him. Klaus was about to answer when he caught Ava's eye. She shook her head an infinitesimal amount and Klaus stayed silent. When Klaus didn't answer, Alexander tightened his grip on Ava's arm and pulled her away.

"Come on, we're going home."

"No!"

Alexander stopped, but not because Ava had dared to say no, but because Klaus, Ava and Elijah had all yelled it at the same time. Alexander sighed in exasperation. It seemed to Elijah that he had a very short temper.

"I'll say this once," he cast a stone cold stare around the room, focusing specifically on Elijah and Klaus who looked like they were prepared to fight to save Ava from his grasp. "My father is a very powerful man and this woman," he indicated Ava, "belongs to me. If any of you so much as try to stop me from reclaiming what is rightfully mine, I will see to it that my father destroys each and every one of you." He walked through the crowd, dragging Ava rather aggressively with him.

"Mama, mama please!" Ava begged, tears pouring down her face, pulling against Alexander's grip. "Please don't let him take me!"

Her mother stared at her for a moment before looking away without answering. She, her husband and Louis all made to follow Alexander when her mother turned back to face Leda.

"We're so very sorry for our intrusion. I wish it hadn't come to this."

"Mama, please! I'm your _daughter_!" cried Ava, still pulling against Alexander before he pulled her out of the house.

Giselle looked torn for a moment before she followed her husband and son out of the house.

As soon as the door shut behind them, shocked chatter broke out across the room. Klaus made to follow them all, presumably to bring Ava back, but before he had taken more than a few steps, Evander and Bryden had both grabbed him.

"Let go of me!" snarled Klaus trying to break free of their hold.

"You can't go picking a fight with that man!" cried Evander, trying to hold Klaus back. "You heard what he said, he'll destroy you!"

"I don't care!"

Ava's cries could still be heard, she was sobbing.

"I can't just leave her with _him_!"

"It's nothing to do with us, son." said Nicholas,

"How can you say that?" Klaus snarled, turning on their father immediately. Sensing that a fight would soon break out - Klaus and their father had quite a history of getting into arguments that quickly turned into physical fights - Elijah left Belle who was now chatting worriedly to a friend and removed his brother from the vicinity, dragging him out of the room and away from the party.

"Klaus-KLAUS! Calm down!"

"I will not calm down! You don't know what he's done to her! He's a madman!"

"Yes, I do!"

Klaus stopped trying to manoeuvre himself out of Elijah's hold and stared at him. "She told you?" he said incredulously.

"No, no of course not." he paused. "I heard you two talking the other day, I heard her telling you."

"You were _eavesdropping_?" Klaus said indignantly.

"Do you really want to discuss that right now! I'm on your side! I want to help you!"

Klaus stared. "You'll help me go after her?"

"I'll help you come up with a plan to get her back. But we need to _plan_, brother. We can't just go running after her, we need to come up with a plan to get around him, otherwise we're all as good as dead."

Klaus considered this offer for a moment. Elijah could see that his urge to go chasing after them and prevent Ava from spending even a minute with that man was warring with his knowledge that if they didn't plan and he went charging after them now, he'd most likely end up dead.

After what seemed like an eternity, Klaus nodded.


	12. Chapter 11

**19****th**** June, 1016**

Elijah and Klaus spent most of the night attempting to come up with plans that might be able to pull the rug from under Alexander's feet and pull Ava from his cruel grasp. Nothing that they suggested came to much.

The rest of their family had retired to bed. Though they were all appalled by what had happened and worried about Ava who, in the few weeks she had been in France, had once again become a part of their family. She got on well with his siblings and his parents. Though they were all worried about Ava, his family had come to the conclusion that there was nothing that they could do. Alexander had made himself very clear when stating what would happen to anyone who tried to stand in his way. Though Ava had become a part of their family, Leda and Nicholas weren't willing to put any of their children in danger.

Elijah and Klaus weren't going to give up, though. Even though all hope seemed lost, they were going to try their damned hardest to prise Ava from Alexander's cold, hard grip.

The morning after the dreadful events of that night, Elijah and Klaus decided to talk a walk, to clear their heads; they'd been stuck inside all night trying to fabricate plans.

"You know as well as I do that he'll beat her within an inch of her life once he has her alone. You saw the look on his face when she refused to come back." snapped Klaus when Elijah suggested - albeit half-heartedly - that maybe Alexander had learnt his lesson and would treat Ava better this time around. In all honesty, he had only suggested it in an attempt to convince himself that Ava would be ok if they failed to save her.

They had reached Ava's house by this time. Both of them automatically looked around at it, as though hoping to see Ava running towards the pair of them. As it was, Ava _was_ in the courtyard, but so was Alexander. Ava's arms were laden with packages and she was making her way towards the carriage that stood just outside the gates. Her head was bowed so that her hair fell over her face. Alexander was watching her from the doorway. She hadn't noticed Elijah or Klaus who had both stopped in their tracks. Elijah was torn, he wanted to call out to her, to let her know that they were there, but Alexander was watching her so closely.

After depositing the packages that she was carrying into the carriage, she tucked her hair behind her ear - probably out of habit - and Elijah gasped. He turned to his brother who was staring with an open mouth.

"Her face…" Klaus whispered. "Look at her face."

The right side of Ava's face was covered in purple bruises. There was an ugly bruise surrounding her eye, another one that covered her cheekbone and she was supporting a swollen lip.

Klaus started forward, leaving Elijah stood by himself. Elijah stared at his brother before he realised what he was doing.

"Ava!" Klaus called, surging forwards. Ava looked up, startled.

"Klaus!" Elijah hissed, glancing over at Alexander. Alexander had noticed their intrusion and was striding over purposefully. Elijah caught up to Klaus just as Alexander reached them. He grabbed hold of his brother's arm to stop him from throwing himself at Alexander.

"What happened to your face?" Klaus demanded furiously, staring at Ava.

Ava glanced nervously at Alexander who was glaring at Klaus.

"I walked into a door." she said quietly, looking down so that her hair fell forwards, covering the worst of the bruises.

"The hell you did!" Klaus replied angrily. He looked ready to start a full-on fist fight with Alexander.

"Klaus!" Elijah said again, shaking his brother's arm to regain his attention. He gave Klaus a meaningful look and he seemed to come back to his senses. With one last glare at Alexander, he allowed Elijah to drag him away. Elijah glanced back at Ava, she was watching them go with a longing expression. As he turned away, he saw Alexander pull her away and back towards the house.

"What was that?" Elijah demanded as soon as they were far enough away from the house. "You know that he'll take it out on her if you make him angry! This is why we have to _plan_, brother!"

"I'm sorry! It's just, her face! Didn't you see it? He did that to her in one night! I can't leave her with him, I'm sorry I can't. I have to-I have to go back." He made to push past Elijah and run back when Elijah grabbed him.

"Are you not listening to me? We have to do this properly!"

Klaus stopped struggling against Elijah's hold and stood still, staring over at the house for a few moments. He turned to Elijah with an odd expression.

"Why are you helping me?"

"What?"

"Why are you helping me? You seem to want her back almost as much as I do. Why?"

Elijah cleared his throat unnecessarily. It was true he wasn't exactly doing much to hide his inappropriate feelings for Ava at the present moment.

"She was my best friend. I care about her as much as you do."


	13. Chapter 12

**5****th**** March, 1017**

Ava waited until the door shut behind Alexander to raise herself into a sitting position. Tears were pouring down her face and she couldn't help the sobs that had been building inside of her ever since Alexander had forced her down onto the bed and forced himself on her. One of the servants hurried into the room and hastened to help Ava up from the bed.

"Are you ok, Ma'am?" she asked, her eyes taking in Ava's rather dishevelled appearance.

"I'm fine." Ava managed to choke out, though the tears were still falling thick and fast. She brushed the tears away and hoisted a watery smile up onto her face. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I'd like to be left alone." said Ava.

The servant clearly wasn't falling for Ava's shaky performance, but she didn't protest. She left the room with a couple of worried glances back at Ava. It wasn't as though this was a particularly new occurrence, though; Ava was the subject of Alexander's abuse many times a week and had been for over a year, both before she had made a desperate bid for freedom in France and after.

Once the door shut behind the servant, Ava made her way over to the mirror on her dresser and gazed at her reflection. She winced at the sight of herself; there was a fresh, purple bruise covering her cheekbone after Alexander had lost his temper with her the day before and had relieved himself by punching her in the face. On the opposite side of her face there was a nasty cut that ran from her forehead to her temple after she'd fallen (actually, she'd been pushed) into the side of her dresser. There was an old bruise on her right eye which was yellowing and was barely visible in the light. Despite the fact that her face looked utterly awful, it was actually the least injured part of her body. Her clothes covered the worst of her injuries, thank goodness.

She glanced down at the ring on the third finger of her left hand. Her wedding ring. Yes, she was married to the man that took pleasure in abusing her. There was nothing she could do about it, nobody talked about it, everyone, even her own family, pretended that it wasn't happening. It was like a taboo.

During her brief return to France, whenever Ava had thought about her future it had stretched out before her like a blank page of parchment, ready to be filled. There had been so many possibilities, so many happy memories to be made, but now? Now all she saw was a thoroughly miserable future tied to Alexander. She had considered running away again, but if he found her again he would be livid. He had been furious the last time, she wasn't willing to repeat that experience. Suicide had been an option at one point, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, not when there was every possibility that one day she would be freed from Alexander's wrath. In all honestly, she was hoping that maybe _they _would come for her. She had been in a relationship with Klaus before she left and as for Elijah…well, that was a little complicated but she had hoped that one of them, or both, would come and rescue her. It had been almost 8 months, they weren't coming for her. It had been stupid of her to pin her hopes on them coming for her in the first place, this was not their problem, it was hers.

Ava had hoped that Alexander's attitude towards her might have changed, given the new circumstances, but if anything he was more aggressive than ever.

A fresh round of tears spilled down her cheeks when her gaze met her reflection's eye. She was beaten up and bruised and yet her parents refused to acknowledge what was going on behind closed doors. They pretended that they had no idea what she was talking about when she confronted them, or that they were too busy arranging her brother's marriage to spend time with her. It was sickening. She hated them. Her mother, her father and Alexander. Alexander for obvious reasons, and her parents because they were the worse parents a girl could have.

"I would rather die than watch my child hurt at the hands of someone who's supposed to love and protect them!" Ava had screamed at them one day, trying again to force them to acknowledge the abuse that they knew was happening.

Whether they were so scared of Alexander and his powerful family and didn't want to get on their bad side or that they cared more about the power and wealth that Ava's marriage to Alexander brought to their family to try and protect her from him, Ava didn't know. Nor did she care. Was it them that spent their days pussyfooting around their other half in fear of being beaten for saying the wrong thing or looking the wrong way? Was it them who were constantly covered in cuts and bruises?

No.


	14. Chapter 13

**5****th**** March, 1017**

"You're positive this is where she lives?"

"Yes!"

"You're _positive_?"

"Brother, I think you forget how _easy _it is for us to acquire information these days." hissed Elijah. "We're vampires now. Nothing is impossible, not for us."

The two brothers were crouched under a tree, looking up at the magnificent house they had been told was now the residence of Ava and her awful husband. England was colder than what they were used to, especially now that all their senses were heightened a hundred fold, but not even the harsh, March wind could distract them from the task at hand. Elijah could barely admit it, even to himself, but he was afraid what condition they were going to find Ava in. They would have come for her sooner, much sooner, but the situation had become complicated. Not only had their humanity come to an end but he and his siblings had discovered that Klaus was not their true brother. He was their half brother. The whole thing had been a long, complicated, painful journey, but now that they were equipped with new powers, they were ready to save her.

They waited until Alexander left the house to launch their rescue mission. They watched as he strode away, his aura pulsing with self importance. It took all of his will power - and all of his brother's, too - not to launch himself at Alexander and tear his head off. Elijah had to remind himself that there was a bigger picture here, and that they weren't here for Alexander, they were here for Ava.

"Come on," muttered Klaus as soon as Alexander was far enough away. They hurried out from under the tree and made their way over to the house. They were careful not to use any of their newfound powers - supernatural speed, for example, in case any one was looking out the windows and saw them, it would only raise awkward questions and they didn't have time to erase the memories of various people.

Elijah knocked on the door and they waited impatiently for someone to answer. After what seemed like an inconveniently long time, the door was pulled open by an older woman. She had long, blonde hair and splendid clothes. She looked far too well-dressed to be a servant.

"Hello," said Elijah pleasantly. "My name is Elijah and this is my brother, Niklaus. We were wondering whether it would be possible to have a word with you, we won't take up a moment of your time."

The woman smiled and stepped aside. "Of course, please come in."

The two of them fought back smiles, they had thought that getting invited in would have been a little more complicated.

Once they were inside, Klaus spent no time in making his intentions clear. He grasped the woman's shoulders and looked her in the eye. Her expression slackened and she seemed captivated.

"Tell me, does a woman named Ava live here?" he asked her.

"Yes." she said in a blank voice.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"The fourth room on the second floor." the woman replied.

"Take care of her." Klaus said to Elijah before shooting off up the stairs.

Elijah did exactly what his brother had done and looked the woman in the eye until she was captivated by his gaze.

"This never happened. You never saw us. You're going to forget this happened." he said slowly. He was gone, up the stairs after Klaus, before the woman even realised what was happening. She came back to her senses, unable to remember why she was stood in the middle of the hallway or how she had got there. Shrugging, she brushed it off. Perhaps she had been daydreaming.

Elijah caught up with his brother just as he set foot on the second floor. They had been lucky enough that, so far, they had run into no one else.

Klaus stopped in front of a wooden door. "Should we knock?"

Elijah nodded.

Klaus rapped on the door three times then stood back slightly. There was silence and Elijah wondered whether they had got the right door when a small voice from inside called, "Come in."

Klaus pushed open the door and stepped inside. Elijah followed him. They were stood in a rather large room. It was decorated with all the finest materials. Ava was sat in a chair over by the windows, a blanket thrown over her. She didn't look around, she seemed too engrossed in gazing at the world outside her window.

"You know, Olivi-" she turned and stopped. She stared at the pair of them for a moment, apparently too shocked to speak.

"Oh my." She whispered, finally.

Elijah was, also, too shocked to speak. Not because he was finally seeing her but by the state of her face. It was covered in purple and yellow bruises, not to mention cuts.

Klaus had hurried to her side and was now kneeling down beside her.

"Oh, sweetheart." he muttered, lifting a hand to her cheek. "What has he done to you?"

"I can't believe you're here." she whispered.

Klaus smiled and took her hand. "I'm here. We're here. We've come to rescue you. We don't have a lot of time, we need to get out of here, now."

Instead of looking overjoyed, as he had expected her to, Ava shook her head. "I can't come with you." she said, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"What do yo- what are you talking about? You don't want to stay with that bastard, do you?"

"Of course not. I jus-I can't. I can't leave."

"Why not?" said Elijah, walking forwards. What reason could she possibly have for wanting to stay? The man was practically torturing her.

"Of course you can leave!" Klaus said angrily.

"I-you don't understand!"

"Then explain!" he said, standing up. Elijah walked forwards to stand besides his brother; since they had become vampires, their emotions had been fickle, it was very possible to go from joy to rage in a split second.

Ava looked up at the two of them helplessly. She stood up and let the blanket fall to the floor. Both Elijah and Klaus took an involuntary step backwards and let out gasps of horror. As long as Elijah had known her, Ava had had a slim physique but now a well defined bump had replaced her formerly flat stomach. Maybe if she had simply put on weight, it wouldn't have been so shocking, but the bump was not merely a result of overeating, she was pregnant.

Klaus recovered first.

"Is it _his_?"

"Of course. He is my husband."

"He abuses you yet you're perfectly happy to carry his child?" asked Klaus is disgust.

Ava stared at him. "You think that I chose for this to happen? Do you not remember what I told you? He forces himself on me! It was no different when this child was conceived. The last thing I wish to do is to bring a child into this marriage, not with Alexander as it's father! You'd think that, in my condition, he would stop abusing me, but he has changed not one bit! I'd love nothing more than to run away with you, but I can't run away in this condition!" Ava said furiously.

Elijah and Klaus looked at each other, both of them were at an utter loss for words.

"Yes, you can." said Elijah finally, turning back to face Ava. She started to protest but Elijah held up his hand. "Ava, when you left, something happened. I can't explain it now but it's something big. Something huge. It'll help us protect you. You can come with us and this time, if he comes after you, we can protect you."

"What are you talking about?"

"We can explain everything. But not here. Alexander will be back soon and we need to go."

"Are you seriously suggesting that I - 7 months pregnant - come with you? Just abandon everything and run away with you? What about my baby?"

"I promise you," Klaus came forward and took her hand again. "We can look after you and your baby."

Ava stared at Klaus and then at Elijah. He could see it in her face, she was torn between escaping from her abusive husband and doing the right thing for her unborn child. After a few painfully long moments, she came to a decision.

"Lets go."


	15. Chapter 14

**5****th**** March, 1017**

It had to be said. Ava being pregnant was going to complicate their situation. Firstly they'd have to find a suitable place to stay until the baby was born and then when it was born, what then? What about when she found out what they were? Would she want them around when the baby was born?

Whilst Elijah was thinking this, Ava was hurrying around the room, trying to decide what to take.

"You don't need to bring anything. We just need to get out."

"What about clothes?"

"I'll buy you new ones!"

Ava looked like she wanted to protest, but she closed her mouth. "Very well." She made to walk towards the door but Elijah stopped her.

"We go through the window," he said.

"What?" Ava exclaimed. "Are you mad? We'll all be killed! We can't launch ourselves out of a window! That's ridiculous!"

Klaus, who had been pushing the window open, came forwards and took her face with his hands. "Trust us. We'll be fine. I promise you that we'll jump from this window and we will be fine. Trust me."

Elijah didn't know if Klaus was compelling her or just willing her to trust him. Whichever it was, he seemed to have convinced her. She nodded.

"Elijah, you first. I'll follow with Ava."

"Oh, wait." said Ava, turning away from Klaus.

"What is it?"

Ava pulled an intricate ring off the third finger of her left hand - her wedding ring - and let it drop to the floor. "I won't be needing that."

Elijah grinned at her before walking past her and Klaus and hoisting himself up onto the window ledge. He stepped out into the thin air and fell, landing on his feet. He bent his knees to absorb the impact and straightened up. A thump behind him told him that Klaus and Ava had landed. He turned just as Klaus was setting Ava back on her feet.

"Where to now, brother?"

"We'll head south for now."

"Are we not returning to France?" asked Ava.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Sweetheart, we'll explain everything. We have so much to tell you but right now we need to get as far away from here as we can. We won't go too far. You are still human and a vulnerable one at that."

Ava looked confused. Elijah couldn't blame her, especially with Klaus' comment about being human.

"But, you're both human, too." she said.

Klaus chuckled. "Not quite."

They travelled south for the majority of the day. They took three horses from Alexander's stables - Klaus had offered to share his horse with Ava, but she'd insisted on her own - and rode through the British countryside for hours. They stopped only when Ava looked like she could have fallen asleep at the reigns.

They settled for an old, abandoned farm house. It was far from perfect, but it was shelter.

"What did you mean when you said you weren't quite human?" Ava demanded as soon as Elijah shut the barn door behind them.

Klaus looked at Elijah and then back at Ava.

"You should sit down."

Ava glared at him, but she sat down anyway. Elijah supposed that being seven months pregnant combined with 10 hours on a horse would not be at all comfortable.

"Ava, when you were away, something happened. Something huge. It's a very long story and now is not the time to tell it."

"I don't understand."

"Me and my brother, we're not human. Not anymore." said Elijah.

Ava stared between them uncertainly. "Is this a j-are you trying to make me look stupid?"

Klaus knelt down before her. "No. I'm telling the truth. We're vampires. It's a long, complicated story, one that I'll tell you some other time. Our whole family are vampires."

Ava looked angry. She stood up - with difficulty - and glared at them. "I don't know why you're saying this bu-"

Klaus cut her off. He stood up and took her hand, which she snatched away.

"We can prove it!"

"Prove it, then."

Elijah walked forwards so that he was stood next to his brother. Klaus looked at him and then back at Ava. For a moment it looked as though they were doing nothing, but then the whites of their eyes flushed red and the veins around their eyes stood out. Their canine teeth had elongated into fangs. Ava took a faltering step backwards, a look of utmost horror on her face.

"Oh my, God." she whispered, unable to tear her gaze away. She turned and made to run to the barn door and presumably out and away from the two of them, but almost as soon as she'd taken her first step, Elijah had appeared in front of her, blocking her way out. She stared at him, horrified. She turned to Klaus who was walking slowly towards her, his expression wary.

"Are you going to kill me?" she whispered, her hands going straight to her stomach as though she hoped this would protect her baby if they decided to attack. "Is that why you came for me? So that you could kill me?"

"No! Of course not!" exclaimed Klaus. "We have no desire to hurt you. None at all! We came to save you." He looked hurt by the fact that Ava would even think that.

Elijah was also a little offended. After everything he and Ava had been through, including their long friendship, did she honestly think that the fact that they were no longer human would mean that they would have a sudden desire to kill her? He loved her, he had always loved her and probably always would. Becoming a vampire had only heightened his feelings for her, not eradicated them and replaced them with an urge to murder her. He suspected that Klaus felt the same. He knew that his brother harboured deep feelings for Ava, just like himself. He hated it, but he couldn't hate his brother for loving her. How could he hate someone that loved her? It was an impossible situation.


	16. Chapter 15

**8th**** March, 1017**

Ava was sat against a large oak tree, watching Klaus and Elijah conversing. Her hands were wrapped around her swollen stomach, as usual. She glanced down at it and felt a wave of dismay wash over her. From the moment she'd left her home with Alexander, she'd been wondering what on earth would happen when she gave birth. She wanted her child to have the best possible life, and what sort of life could she give her baby? A homeless runaway in love with two different men, neither of which was her child's father. She stroked her stomach just as her eyes started to well up with tears. She had no choice, in order to provide her baby with a happy, normal life, she would have to leave him or her in the care of another. The very thought made her feel as though someone had wrenched her heart through her chest, but the facts were cold and hard: she could not raise a baby, even with the help of Klaus and Elijah. It wouldn't be a life she would want for her child.

"What's wrong?" said Klaus. Elijah had left to look for some firewood so for the first time, they were alone."

Ava shook her head. "Nothing."

Klaus wasn't fooled, like he had told her before, he was a better liar than she.

"Ava, what's wrong?" he repeated softly, holding her gaze.

She stared at him for a few long moments. She was trying to find the right words to explain how she was feeling, but none seemed adequate enough. "I can't keep this baby." she said quietly, looking down. "It wouldn't be fair. This child deserves better than what I would be able to give it."

Klaus didn't say anything, he merely looked at her.

"You disagree?"

"I neither agree or disagree, for this is your child and your decision. Whatever choice you make, I'll support you."

**10****th**** March, 1017**

After explaining as much as they possibly could to Ava and convincing her that they weren't going to kill, hurt or attack her in any way they managed to get a couple of hours sleep. As soon dawn came, they were out of the barn and travelling again. It was difficult, given Ava's condition, but they managed a fair few miles each day. It wasn't until 5 days after they had rescued Ava from Alexander's clutches that the situation was complicated further. They had almost reached the English Channel when Ava claimed she was unable to travel much further.

"What is it?" asked Elijah, dismounting his horse.

Ava was doubled over, clutching her stomach. She was breathing heavily and seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Klaus was knelt in front of her, trying desperately to relieve her of the pain.

"It hurts." gasped Ava. She opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by a cry of pain the forced itself out of her mouth. Elijah, who recognised the symptoms, having been around when his own mother was pregnant, knew what was wrong.

He came forward and knelt down next to Klaus. "You're in labour." he said gently.

"What?" said Ava and Klaus in unison, both of them staring at him.

"She's only 7 months pregnant. Surely not?"

"I suppose that the baby is premature." muttered Elijah. "Whatever the case, we need to find shelter for her. If she's going to give birth, she can't do it here."

"I saw a house a mile or so back. We could take her there." suggested Klaus, glancing nervously at Ava who was now attempting to take deep breaths, most of which were punctured with sharp intakes as new waves of pain crashed over her.

After an excruciating quarter of an hour - for Ava, anyway - the three of them reached a small farmhouse. It wasn't much, but it would do.

Elijah slid from his horse and went forth to knock on the door whilst Klaus followed, supporting Ava who could barely walk.

A middle-aged woman pulled open the door. No explanation was needed once she caught sight of Ava and she promptly invited the three of them inside the house whilst calling to her husband for help. Between the three of them - Elijah, Klaus and the woman - they managed to manoeuvre Ava into one of the bedrooms where she was placed onto a bed. Elijah was worried, and it wasn't hard to tell that Klaus was, also. Ava's condition seemed to be rapidly deteriorating. With every passing moment she seemed less likely to be able to give birth without dying in the process. She looked dangerously close to passing out.

Ava cried out in pain as Charlotte - the middle-aged woman - urged her to push. Her cry was long and drawn out, ending when Ava began to sob. It was hard to watch, Elijah couldn't imagine the pain that Ava must be in. He was stood at the far end of the room, trying to keep out of the way. She didn't need crowding, not now.

Klaus was at her side, offering his hand when she needed it and brushing back her hair in a comforting gesture every now and then, though it did nothing to comfort her.

"I can't do it." sobbed Ava after what seemed like hours. "It's too much. I can't do it anymore."

"Yes, yes you can." said Klaus, taking her hand. "You've come this far, of course you can."

Charlotte gave her a sympathetic smile. "You're doing so well. It won't be long now, just a little bit more."

Ava was crying, Elijah had to look away, he couldn't stand the sight of her in so much pain. He wanted to help her, but what could he do?

It took all day and most of the night, but after 18 excruciatingly long hours, Ava gave birth to a healthy, baby boy.

Elijah was sat with her whilst she cradled her son in her arms - Klaus had gone with Charlotte and her husband to get food, water and blankets for Ava - but instead of looking happy as Elijah had seen his mother look on every occasion after giving birth, tears were pouring down Ava's cheeks as she gazed down at the little boy.

"What's wrong?" Elijah asked her, though he had a feeling he already knew.

"I have to leave him." she said quietly without taking her eyes of her baby.

"You don't have to."

Ava shook her head. "I can't bring him with us. It wouldn't be fair on him. Besides, I'm a not a mother. I'd be the worst mother in the world." she looked up. "I'll have to leave him here. They'll look after him…they looked after me."

Elijah watched her. He could see the pain in her face as she discussed leaving her child, though she tried to hide it. He could see it as plain as day, and he hated it. He wanted to take away her pain, to tell her that everything would work out in the end, but the words wouldn't come.

Once they had outstayed their welcome, the three of them decided that it was time to move on, especially since Alexander would most certainly be searching the country for Ava by now. Once Ava was well enough to travel again, Elijah and Klaus sat down with Charlotte and her husband at their kitchen table. They didn't both with pleasantries. Elijah locked onto Charlotte's gaze and Klaus on her husbands.

"You're going to raise this child as though he is your own. If anyone asks, he is yours. You will provide him with a good and happy life and he will want for nothing." said Elijah whilst Klaus did the same with her husband.

"When he is eighteen years of age, you will give him this," Elijah handed Charlotte a sheet of parchment that Ava had written on a few hours earlier. "You will tell him about him mother. Not to do so would be an insult. Have I made myself clear?"

Charlotte nodded, a vacant expression on her face and her eyes were glazed over.

Ava came forwards cradling her baby. She was crying silently, though the tears were falling thick and fast. Klaus stood up and went straight to her side as she handed her sleeping baby to Charlotte who took him without question. As soon as the baby was cradled in Charlotte's arms and not her own, Ava turned to Klaus and buried her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and fixed Elijah with a troubled expression which Elijah returned. They'd never seen her like this, not when she'd had to leave France or when Alexander had been abusing her. It was heartbreaking.


	17. Chapter 16

**7th**** April, 1017**

"Are you sure about this?" asked Elijah.

"Positive." said Ava firmly. "I want to be able to defend myself. I want to be with you forever." she said to Klaus. "Both of you."

"Ava, you don't know what you'd be getting yourself into. Being a vampire isn't at all easy. You won't be the same. You won't be human."

"I know that, Klaus! You think I haven't thought it through? Of course I have. I've made my decision. I want you to turn me."

"Ava…" Klaus said, looking uncomfortable. "Please reconsider this."

"You love me, don't you?"

"Yes, of cou-"

"If you turn me then we can be together always!" she said, hurrying forwards and cupping his face with her hands. "Never again will we be parted!"

Klaus looked at Elijah who grimaced. One day they would come to regret this decision, but they were selfish. Neither of them could resist the idea of being with Ava forever, even if they had to share her.

"Do you think she's ok? What if we didn't give her enough blood? What if she's dead?"

"Brother, calm yourself."

Ava opened her eyes and shied away from the light that was pouring in through the door of the empty barn they had inhabited. She hurt all over. Everything hurt. Even the light. It was too bright. She sat up and looked at the two men who were both leaning over her, watching her worriedly. Who were they again? Oh…that's right. They were hers. Both of them. She loved them both. Too much to choose just one.

"Are you ok?" asked Elijah.

"No, but I will be." She kissed him. And he kissed her back, just for a second and incredibly hesitantly before pulling away.

"What are you doing?" demanded Klaus, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her away from Elijah.

"I love him." she said simply, looking at him innocently. Why did he look so upset? Had she said done something wrong? "I love you too, Klaus." she said. And she did. She wanted both of them. She knew, vaguely, that her behaviour was stemming from the fact that she was in transition. She was disorientated, barely herself.

"She needs blood." said Elijah.

Klaus nodded in agreement,

"You stay with her, I'll find someone." And he was gone. Just like that. Ava couldn't wrap her head around it, he'd moved so fast! Would she be able to do that?

Klaus was watching her. He still looked upset.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, coming forward. She raised her hand and brushed it across one of his cheekbones. Why did he look so sad?

"My brother, do you love him?"

She nodded.

"And me?"

Again, she nodded, though she regretted it almost immediately. The nodding motion made her feel sick, and it hurt her head.

Not a minute too soon, Elijah returned with a human man who had that vacant expression that was so very popular with those who had been compelled. He bit into the neck of the man, leaving two open wounds where his fangs had broken the skin and then thrust him towards Ava.

"Take the blood." he said simply.

She didn't need telling twice. She approached him slowly, her eyes fixated on the two, small wounds that were now welling up with blood. It looked incredibly appealing. She clamped her mouth around the wounds and let the blood gush into her mouth.

_Oh_, this is strange, she thought to herself, but in a wonderful way. She could feel herself changing. She was becoming stronger, faster, agile. Once she'd had her fill, she pushed the poor man away from her and raised her hand to wipe the blood from around her mouth. She wasn't disorientated anymore, she was herself once again, only 100 times more powerful.

The whites of her eyes had flushed blood red on contact with the blood from the human man and her canine teeth had elongated into fangs. She turned to face her two suitors with her red eyes and her fangs to find them grinning. She was one of them now, everything was going to be just fine.

**15 April, 1017**

"I don't care! I want it done it today!" snapped Alexander to a timid servant of his. He opened his mouth again to berate her on her shoddy work when a resounding crash sounded from downstairs. With an exasperated sigh, Alexander made his way downstairs with the intention of scolding whoever had caused the noise. He marched down the stairs irritated, stopping only when he saw the majority of his servants all cowering away from persons unseen.

"What's going on?" he demanded, descending the remainder of the stairs. A most disturbing scene met his eyes; the front door had been smashed clean off its hinges and two of his servants lay on the floor, their head's bleeding copiously. Stood in the doorway, silhouetted impressively against the sun pouring in from the ruined doorway stood three figures. A woman and two men.

"Hello, Alexander." came a familiar female voice. He knew perfectly well who that voice belonged to and he was filled with pure anger. How dare she come crawling back after pulling another disappearing act! He was going to teach her a lesson she'd never forget!

"Ava." he said in a voice tainted by fury. She laughed. "Get in here, now." he spat, striding forwards to drag her inside, but before he could reach her, she stepped inside willingly. She looked oddly confident. The two men stood just outside the door, one either side of the doorway, watching her with what looked like proud expressions. He scoffed, he'd deal with them after he'd dealt with her. He assumed that it was them who had broken his door and attacked his servants, the filthy peasants.

Ava was had a black cloak over an old, filthy, frayed dress, though she didn't look at all perturbed by her less-than-satisfactory appearance. The one thing that caught Alexander's eye more than anything else, though, was the fact that she no longer seemed to be pregnant.

"Where is our baby?" he demanded, furiously. He had been livid when he'd discovered that she'd taken off, heavily pregnant with their child. How could she be so inconsiderate?

"_My _baby is fine, Alexander. Do not worry yourself."

"I demand you to tell m-"

"Be quiet, please. I come here only to convey a message."

"A message from whom?" he said, outraged.

"Me."

"What are you talking about, woman?"

She took a few steps forward, a sly smirk playing on her lips. "During my absence I became something more than human. I come here to avenge myself. During and before our marriage, you took great pleasure in abusing, terrorising and doing with me as you pleased."

All of the servants were now muttering to each other, terrified.

"You even stooped as low as to rape me. You are a pitiful excuse for a man, Alexander. But no matter, you will never harm me again. You see, I've gained a few…extra talents, if you will."

She turned her head slightly and beckoned to one of the servants. He walked forwards, as though he was in a trance, and stopped next to Ava. She pulled him in front of her and pulled back his head so that his neck was exposed. She grinned at Alexander and then - he wouldn't have believed it unless he'd seen it - the whites of her eyes turned a ghastly colour of red and her canine teeth turned into fangs. She plunged her monstrous fangs into the neck of the servant boy, causing those remaining to scream in horror. Once she'd done enough damage to snuff out the life of the boy, she let him drop to the floor. She fixed her gaze onto Alexander who was now surveying her with both horror and fear.

"You see, darling," she took a pause within which she moved so fast that Alexander saw nothing more than a blur until she was stood right in front of him. "I'm stronger than you, now." She slapped him, and the sheer force of it send him rocketing backwards. He tripped over his own feet and ended up sprawled on the floor. She began to advance upon him and he scrambled to get to his feet so he could attempt to escape. He was filled with terror. She was a monster, the kind that he had - until this moment - believed to be nothing more than folklore. "Relax, Alexander. I'm not going to kill you today." she knelt down in front of her and looked into her eyes. He saw nothing human there. The red eyes had returned to white and her fangs had retracted, leaving nothing but the blood of the servant boy smeared around her mouth. The two men - who he now recognised as those who had opposed him back in France - were watching her with identical grins of malice.

"I'll come back for you one day, I won't tell you when, but I'll come for you. From this day forth you're going to live your life in fear of my return, just as I lived in fear of your abuse. You'll know when I'm coming for you because those around you will start to die one by one." she grinned. "When your mother is found dead with a broken neck at the bottom of the stairs, that'll be me. And when your father is found impaled on his own pitching fork, that'll be me. When every single person around you dies some tragic, mysterious death, you'd do well to watch your back, Alexander, because when that happens, I'm coming for you."


	18. Chapter 17

**July 17th****, 1290**

For almost three hundred years, the three of them travelled far and wide, leaving a trail of devastation and destruction in their wake. They were all gradually losing touch with their humanity, Ava especially. They would pick and choose towns at random, work their way into the social circles and then attack. Sometimes they did it for the blood, most of the time it was for the pure satisfaction of the kill.

Elijah and Klaus fought a lot, mainly over Ava. Who was a better match for her, who she loved most, who loved her the most. Ava enjoyed watching them fight over her and did nothing to stop them unless they became in danger of becoming physical. When the arguments began to escalate physically, then Ava would intervene. She'd plead with them to get along, for her sake. She widen her eyes and adopt an innocent expression. They all knew that Ava was far from innocent, but how could they refuse her when she pleaded with them that way?

It wasn't until the year of 1290 that the relationship of their threesome reached it's breaking point. It wasn't, as one might expect, a fight to the death between Klaus and Elijah. Their threesome was, in fact, broken apart by the departure of Ava.

Klaus and Elijah's arguments had been becoming more and more frequent. Whilst Ava was originally enjoyed these arguments, given the fact that they were because of her, over time the two brothers had spent more time fighting and less time paying her attention.

The boys found her hastily packing away all her belongings. Confused, they asked her what she was doing and whether she had already grown tired of their current residence.

"Yes, I've grown tired." she snapped in response. "But not of this town. I've grown tired of the pair of you."

They looked at each other, still confused, and then back at her.

"I'm not sure I understand." said Klaus.

"All you do is argue and fight over who I belong to, and which one of you deserves me more, almost as if you both consider me an object. And quite frankly I'm _bored_. You don't pay me any attention anymore because you're too busy trying to rip each others heads off."

"We can stop! We will stop, won't we, brother?" said Elijah quickly, taking a step forwards. "If attention is what you desire then I will gladly give it to you." he said, reaching for her hand.

Ava snatched her hand out of Elijah's reach. "I don't want _your_ attention anymore, Elijah."

Klaus smirked and stepped forwards, evidently under the impression that she was about to declare her desire for Klaus' attention and his attention only.

"Nor do I want yours, Klaus." she said coldly. "I'm bored of both of you. I intend to travel the world until I find someone capable of exciting me because the Lord knows that neither of you possess that capability."

"Don't you love me anymore?" asked Klaus in a small voice.

Ava laughed. "Oh, sweetheart. I think we all know that I lost the ability to love anyone the moment I heeded your advice and shut the door on my emotions. Love is a vampire's greatest weakness, is it not? We do not feel, and we do not care. Surely you have realised that by now?"

Both brothers were staring at Ava, shocked. Of course, they had known that by turning her into a vampire, they ran the risk of losing the girl they both loved, but not to this degree. They had both believed that yes, she would become less human, just as they had, but her personality would remain more or less the same. The girl that stood in front of them was a million miles away from the girl they had fallen in love with. When she was human, Ava had been kind, caring and gentle. She had been vulnerable yet strong. She had been a good person, a kind person. They had both seen her at her weakest, when she was forced to give up her son. They had watched her heart break and yet here she stood, less than a shadow of her former self. The Ava that stood before them now was cold, manipulative and cruel. They hadn't fully recognised it before now.

"You're a monster." said Elijah quietly.

Ava laughed again, his attempt to provoke some sort of human reaction out of her was futile. "I am what you made me."

"You can't leave." said Klaus desperately. "We agreed to stay together, the three of us, for all eternity. You promised."

"Then make me stay, Klaus. Force me to stay, compel me to follow your orders. Take away my will!" Ava said, coming forwards. She stopped when she was right in front of him. "Go on. You have the power, Klaus. Do it."

Klaus wrenched his gaze away from hers and fixed it on a spot on the ground. Ava chuckled in amusement, she knew that he would not subject her to his will. He wanted her to want to stay, he wasn't going to force her.

"In that case, I suppose that this is goodbye."

And then she was gone.


	19. Chapter 18

**8th**** July, 2011**

"Sam?"

No answer.

"Sam!"

No answer.

"SAM!"

"What?"

Sam came dawdling up the stairs looking thoroughly unconcerned.

"How many times do I have to call you?" said Ava in exasperation.

"It's not my fault I don't have freaky, hypersensitive, vampire hearing." replied Sam sarcastically. "What do you want?"

"What shirt are you wearing later?"

"I don't know, whichever one I pull out of the closet first. Why?"

"Because I want to colour coordinate!"

Sam sighed. "Seriously, Ava?"

"Seriously, Sam! It's my birthday! Please?" she widened her eyes and adopted the 'puppy dog' look ."For me?"

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Don't give me that look! You know I can't say no when you do that." Sam protested, throwing a pillow at her. Ava caught the pillow without looking and threw it down on their bed.

"Which is exactly why I use it." she said, grinning.

"I still don't understand why you want to celebrate your birthday. Isn't it boring now? How old are you today, like 900?"

"1020, actually."

"Exactly my point."

"Birthdays are inherently human, which is the kind of life I'm trying to have. Why wouldn't I celebrate my birthday?"

Sam threw himself down on the bed with a groan. "Fine. But no colour coordinating."

"Spoilsport." said Ava, rooting through her closet. She pulled out a black dress and held it up against herself. "Too much?" she asked Sam.

"Yes. I'd prefer you to wear nothing."

She fixed him with a glare, though it was obvious she didn't mind his comment really.

"What time are Oliver, Jack and Dan coming round?"

"I told them eight."

"That's cool. Sophia and Rachel are coming round then." she paused and put the black dress back in her closet. "Dan still nursing an all consuming love for Rach?"

"Yep." said Sam with a grin. "Rach still referring to him as a moron?"

"Yep." said Ava as she closed her closet.

Sam grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto the bed. She squealed in protest, but since she would have been perfectly capable of overpowering Sam, it was obvious that she enjoyed it, really.

"Happy Birthday." he said quietly, kissing her on the cheek.

She smiled. "Thank you."

"…_third body found with no remaining blood. Police have confirmed that it was an animal attack and that no foul play was involved._"

Ava frowned at the tv. She knew just as well as the police did that this was no animal attack. It was a vampire attack, but they couldn't exactly announce that on tv, could they? Not when the existence of vampires was still unknown to the vast majority of the earth's residents.

"Something wrong?" Sam entered the living area. Ava grinned when she saw him; though he'd insisted that they weren't colour-coordinating, he'd donned a black shirt to match Ava's dress.

"Third body this week," she said, gesturing towards the tv.

"Animal attacks, right?"

Ava scoffed. "Hardly. These are vampire attacks. I'm guessing it's a newbie, out of control and careless. Or one so old it doesn't care about the mess it leaves behind." She had a fleeting vision of herself and two others, striding through various towns and villages, leaving trails of carnage behind them, not bothering to clean up their own mess. She shuddered, that was a long time ago.

"You think you'd be strong enough to stop them?"

"Mhmm, probably. I am one of the oldest. I'm not getting involved though. The last thing I want is to be dragged back into vampire drama." she turned off the tv and turned to Sam. "You look nice." she paused. "I thought you weren't colour coordinating?" she teased, winding her arms around his neck.

"Well, I wasn't going to, but it is your birthday."

Ava grinned and gave him a kiss which was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Before Sam could even take a step towards the door, Ava had disappeared from his arms and, judging by the voices in the hallway, had opened the front door.

"Happy Birthday!" squealed two girls in unison. Sophia and Rachel, Ava's best friends. "How old are you again?" asked Rachel.

"She's 1020." said Sam, coming out into the hall, his hands thrust into his pockets.

"I told you! Sophia was convinced you were 1002."

"I was not! I said I thought she was, I didn't say that for definite!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I-"

Their argument over Ava's age was interrupted and, thankfully, put to an end by the arrival of Oliver, Dan and Jack. Dan made a beeline for Rachel who seemed just a little _too _annoyed by his arrival. Ava thought that Rachel actually rather liked the attention she received from Dan, but just didn't like to admit it.

Ava stood next to Sam, a glass of champagne in one hand and his hand in her other. She watched as her friends engaged in various conversations, a small smile playing on her lips. 1020 years old. There was a time she'd have never thought that such a life - friends, a boyfriend, a normal, human routine - would have ever been possible. They were dark times when she'd been ruled by her bloodlust and her unstoppable urges to kill. She was glad she'd been able to break out of the vicious circle and find herself a group of people with whom she could build a normal life around. Of course, she could never _really _have a truly human life. She was a vampire, and where vampire's went, trouble usually followed.

She'd avoided trouble for a good few years, so it was only fair that it caught up to her now. 'Trouble' for Ava usually translated into one of three things, if not all three; blood. Elijah. Klaus.


	20. Chapter 19

**8th**** July, 2011**

The bar was full. So full that, because of her increased sense of hearing, Ava could barely hear herself think. Her head was full of the loud music and chatter that surrounded her. She didn't mind, though, she was happy. She sat, watching Dan try, more successfully than usual, to impress Rachel who, when plied with alcohol, had considerably warmed to him. In fact 'warmed' might have been a bit of an understatement. As Ava watched, Rachel was laughing flirtatiously at something that Dan said and leaned forward to touch his arm. She might as well have had 'I secretly fancy you' written across her forehead.

Sophia was involved in one of those deep, drunken conversations with Sam about her ex boyfriend. Ava was listening in amusement as Sophia described, in detail, how John had broken up with her.

"And then he said, I think we should just be friends!"

"Which roughly translates into 'this was fun while it lasted, but I've been sleeping with someone behind your back." said Sam.

"Urgh! I know! I bet it was that bitch, Stacy Johnson. She was always checking him out whenever he met me at work."

"If you want my advice, Soph-"

"I do!"

"You should just forget about him. Move on. Find someone better. Do you really want to get back together with someone who may have been sleeping with someone else behind your back? Who's to say he won't do it again?"

"I know, I know! But every time I see him, I just melt. I mean, he's gorgeous!" Sophia exclaimed. Ava laughed, being sober around a group of drunk people was always amusing. Of course, she could get drunk, but given her murderous nature, suppressed only by centuries of willpower, the lowering of one's inhibitions could have disastrous consequences, especially when surrounded by so many highly edible humans.

Ava lifted her glass to her mouth when she got a peculiar feeling that someone was watching her. She turned but saw no one who looked like they were watching her. She brushed it off, they were in a bar full of people, of course people were going to look at her. She shook her head at her own paranoia. She noticed that her glass was empty and left Sam and Sophia to their philosophical musings to get herself another drink.

When she got to the bar, she told the bartender what she wanted and then stood, tapping her fingers against the bar as she waited for him to return. She glanced down the bar and started. For a moment, just a moment she thought she'd seen…no, it couldn't be. It was impossible. It had to be someone who looked like him, or a figment of her imagination. It couldn't be him. Not here.

She paid for her drink and hurried back to Sam and Sophia. They were both staring at Dan and Rachel, who were locked in a passionate embrace.

"When did that happen?"

"About five seconds after Rachel's last shot." said Sam, winding his arm around Ava's waist.

They watched Dan and Rachel in amusement for a few moments before returning to their own conversation.

"Where're Oliver and Jack?"

Sam nodded over to the bar where Oliver and Dan were both necking shots and surrounded by a small crowd of eager girls.

"Nothing unusual, then."

After a group trip to the restrooms, which involved Ava and Sophia interrogating Rachel on exactly what had gone down between her and Dan, they returned - Rachel went straight back into Dan's arms - to find Sam conversing with a man that Ava didn't recognise. She sat back down next to Sam and he turned when he realised she was back.

"Ava!" he said in greeting, grinning. "This is Stefan." he said, gesturing towards the unfamiliar man. "He works with me." Stefan had dark blonde hair and one of those deep expressions that were so very popular with those who took pleasure in brooding.

Ava extended her arm and offered her hand to Stefan. "Nice to meet you, Stefan." she said with a smile. "I've never heard you mention him before." she said to Sam, who just looked at her blankly. She stared at him for a moment before turning back to Stefan with a quizzical expression. Stefan was smirking at Sam who didn't seem to notice.

"That's because I don't work with him." said Stefan.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, as far as he knows I do, but in reality…"

Ava narrowed her eyes. Who was this man? And what did he mean?

"I'm not sure I understand."

"I'm sure that you do." said Stefan.

"I don-" she stopped. Stefan, still smirking, had done nothing but look at her, but it was that look that told her exactly what was going on. The whites of Stefan's eyes had flushed red, just for a moment, but it was enough.

"You compelled my boyfriend?" she said in a voice that shook with anger.

Stefan folded his arms, grinning, but didn't say anything.

"Sam?" she said, turning her attention to her human and therefore incredibly defenceless boyfriend. "Could you go and get me another drink?" she asked him, forcing a smile.

"Sure." he said. He kissed her cheek before getting up and disappearing to the bar. As soon as he was out of sight, Ava closed the gap between her and Stefan. "Who are you?" she hissed. "What do you want?"

"Personally? Nothing."

"What do you want from me?" she hissed threateningly.

"He wants you to know something." said Stefan."

"Who does?"

"He's watching you."

"_Who _is?"

Stefan glanced over at Sam who had stopped on his way back to talk to Oliver and Jack. "It's funny, isn't it? How human they make you feel."

"_Who's watching me?_" she demanded, just as Sam sat down on her other side.

"Klaus." said Stefan simply.

Ava's mouth dropped open in shock, causing Stefan to grin in amusement. She turned to Sam, realising for the first time since she'd been with him, how easy it was for him to get hurt. She thought she'd left that life behind. It had been decades since she'd involved herself with any other vampires. She thought it was safe.

When she turned back around, Stefan was gone.


	21. Not a new chapter, sorry A question :

Do you guys think I should change the name of one of the Original sisters to Rebecca in light of the new episode? And then as we learn more about the Originals keep changing the names to those in the show? Or should I just keep them as they are?


	22. Chapter 20

**9****th**** July, 2011**

Ava paced up and down her room repeatedly, trying for the life of her to come up with some sort of plan to protect her friends. Should she tell them? Or would telling them do more harm than good? Maybe they'd be safer not knowing…Stefan had said that Klaus was watching her…he hadn't said anything about anyone else…

She ran a hand through her hair irritably. How? _How_ could Klaus be here? What was he doing here? What did he want? It had been over 700 years! What could he possibly want with her?

No, she couldn't panic. She needed to keep calm. Everything would be fine. She was strong enough to hold her own. If Klaus was still angry at her for the way she'd left all those years ago, if it came down to a fight, she'd have a fairly decent chance of standing against him. He was an Original, but she was just as old as him. Unless he'd broken the curse…

She froze. If Klaus had broken the curse then he'd been lethal. A full-blown monster. She frowned, he couldn't have broken the curse. It was almost impossible. The key to breaking the curse was the doppelganger, and in a world full of 6 billion people, finding the doppelganger was damn near impossible. It was highly unlikely that Klaus had been able to break the curse.

Ava cursed under her breath, no matter how hard she tried to live a human life, the supernatural would always catch up to her. She was a vampire, it was to be expected, but she so badly just wanted to be normal.

"Ava?"

Ava span around to find Sam watching her worriedly. After Stefan had left last night, she'd all but begged Sam to help her round up the others and get out of the bar. She passed it off as having kill-innocent-people urges, given the fact she hadn't fed in a while, but she could tell by way he looked at her that he didn't completely believe her.

"Hey, what's up?" she said, forcing a smile.

"I'm fine."

He surveyed her critically. He didn't believe her, he was seeing right through her lie. She was usually a brilliant liar, it wasn't like she hadn't had practice, but the stress of an all-powerful vampire lurking in the shadows had taken her off guard.

Please, just let it go, she pleaded silently, ignorance is bliss, she thought desperately. trying desperately to convey her message. The most simple option would be to compel him, but compelling him was worse than lying to him.

She must have done something right, because Sam didn't pursue the subject. He sighed and handed her a glass of crimson liquid. Blood. She took the glass from him and stared down at it for a few moments, swilling it around the glass before taking a swig.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. Really." she snapped.

"Ok, I'm sorry!" Sam replied defensively. He turned away from her and left the room. His shoulders were stiff with indignation. Ava opened her mouth to call him back, to apologise, but she couldn't get the words out. She didn't have time to be making peace, she needed to be vampire-proofing the house. But how?

Vervain. Vervain would be perfect. It would prevent Sam from being compelled again and it would mean he wouldn't end up inviting any unwanted vampires into the house. But where could she get vervain from? She'd cut herself off from the world of supernatural beings for decades, she wouldn't know where to begin to look for vervain.

"Where are you going?" asked Sam, coming out of the living room as Ava came down the stairs.

"Out." she said as she pulled on a jacket.

"Where?"

"Just out." she replied shortly pulling open the front door. She was already over the doorstep and outside when a thought struck her. She glanced around at Sam who was watching her from the hallway. "Don't invite anyone in the house."

He frowned. "What?"

"Just don't do it."

He looked confused, and she didn't blame him. She'd never had to warn him against inviting people in before, and why should she? She'd been living like a human for decades now, she didn't know any other vampires. Well, she did…those that she had met before she'd decided to take the human path, but she hadn't heard from them in over a hundred years. They could have been dead for all she knew.

She didn't have a particular destination, she just needed to get out of the house. She needed to escape the almost disaster that was her life. If Klaus was watching her…what if he hurt Sam? Or Sophia or Rachel or any one of her friends? She'd heard plenty of stories about his violent temper over the years. It was a side of him that she'd never seen, and the idea of him being so close to her human friends, friends that were not nearly as durable as vampires, scared her. It didn't sound like he was still with Elijah, either. Elijah, as the older brother, was more mature. He didn't kill for the sake of it, not unless he had to, or so she heard. He was a good buffer, but if he was no longer with Klaus, there was no one to talk Klaus around into a less violent way of carrying plans out. Brilliant.

She returned home some time later after driving around aimlessly, trying to think of anything but the impending doom. Eventually, she'd managed to convince herself that everything was going to be fine. If Klaus was watching her then as long as she played by his rules, there'd be no reason for him to hurt anyone. It was her who had left he and his brother with a less-than-satisfactory goodbye, and little to none gratitude, after everything they'd done for her, not her friends. If he was planning some kind of revenge, then she would take it without a fuss. Everything was going to be fine. No one would get hurt. She was sure of it.

When she pulled up into the driveway, she was surprised to find her friends cars parked outside. It seemed that Sam had decided to have a small get together. That was fine. She could handle it, because everything was going to be ok. If she kept telling herself that, she'd eventually believe it.

She let herself in the house and hung up her jacket. She glanced at herself in the mirror opposite the living room door. She looked worn out. She ran a hand through her hair and plastered a smile to her face before entering the living room. As she'd predicted, all her friends were there. Rachel, Sophia, Dan, Oliver, Jack and-

_Oh my God. _

The smile that she'd plastered to her face was wiped clean, replaced by an expression of shock when her gaze landed on who seemed to be the guests of honour.

"Ava!" exclaimed Sam when he noticed her arrival. He wound an arm round her waist, pulling her into the room. "You remember Stefan, don't you? You met last night."

Stefan grinned at her from his spot on the sofa.

"And this is his brother, Nick."

'Nick' got up from where he had been chatting to Sophia and held out his hand to me. "Nice to meet you, Ava." he said pleasantly before adding, so quietly that no one but Ava could hear him, "you can call me _Klaus_."


	23. Chapter 21

**9****th**** July, 2011**

Ava couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Klaus was here. _Here_. In her house, where her boyfriend, her incredibly human boyfriend lived. Where her human friends would come to hang out. Klaus had been invited in, and she could tell from the look on his face that he had every intention of hurting every single one of them.

Ava forced herself to smile and to shake Klaus' hand and act like everything was just fine. She couldn't confront him, not here, it was too dangerous.

This had to be a dream, she thought to herself. It had to be. A really bad dream. When Klaus returned to his spot next to Sophia, Ava pinched her wrist. That's what you were supposed to do in a dream, right? To cause yourself pain. If it didn't hurt then you were dreaming.

"_Ouch_," she muttered as she pinched her wrist so hard that she drew blood. Ok, she wasn't dreaming then. Fuck. _Fuck_.

"Are you ok?"

She looked up to find Sam looking down at her with concern. He'd noticed the blood stain on her wrist where the wound she'd caused by pinching herself had been a few moments before.

"I'm fine." she said, forcing a smile. "I'll be right back," she said, trying to casually leave the room.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, she rushed into the kitchen and started pacing. What was she going to do? Klaus had been invited in, he could come back whenever he wanted! Brilliant. She would have liked to tear the kitchen counter from the wall and throw it through the window in an attempt to relieve herself of some of the sheer fear and anger she was feeling, but that wouldn't resolve anything.

She was about to go through the cupboards in search of some form of alcohol when she sensed, rather than heard, another presence behind her. She didn't need to look to know who it was.

"Klaus," she acknowledged, turning around to face him. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, the one she had almost ripped from the wall, watching her with a smirk.

"Long time, sweetheart." he said, grinning.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, come on, Ava. Don't pretend you're not pleased to see me."

"Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "It's been over 700 years. Thought I'd check in."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Believe what you want."

She took a slow step towards him and then another. "Are you going to hurt them?" she said, gesturing towards the living room.

"I haven't decided yet." he said in a voice that suggested they were talking about nothing more interesting than the weather. "I'm still a bit sore over the way you left, you see."

Ava sighed. Of course he was. If she'd have known how heartless he was going to become one day, she might have handled the situation a little better. She just hadn't cared back then.

"If you want to punish someone, punish me. Kill me if you want to, just don't hurt them!" she begged him in a hushed voice. She didn't want anyone to overhear them.

"Merely taking your life wouldn't satisfy me. If I decide to punish you then I'd like you to suffer."

In a foolish moment of pure desperation and recklessness, Ava grabbed him by the neck and forced him up against the wall. Klaus looked down at her hand, a grin spreading across his features. He pulled her hand from his throat with ease. She gaped at him and then at their hands. That shouldn't be happening. She was just as old as him, his status as an Original shouldn't have given him _that _much of an advantage. She snatched her hand away from his iron fist and stared at him in horror. He grinned back at her, the whites of his eyes flushing blood red as he did so. His iris' though…instead of the pale blue they'd turned yellow. She'd only ever seen that in one other supernatural creature…

She gasped as the realisation hit. "You broke the curse?" she exclaimed, taking a few unsteady steps back.

"You shouldn't have done that, lovely. I think it's time I taught you a lesson. I let you off 700 years ago because I was head over heels in love with you, but I think it's about time you see what happens when you piss me off." He grabbed her my the upper arm and began to drag her back towards the living room.

"I'm sorry. Klaus, please, I'm sorry!" she cried, fighting against his iron-clad grip as he dragged her back to the living room. "You don't have to do this!"

He kicked open the living room door and stepped inside, pulling Ava with him.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at them, confusion flitting across every one of their faces. After a long moment, Sam spoke.

"What's going on?"

"Do you want to tell them or shall I?" asked Klaus, turning to Ava.

"Do you two know each other?" asked Rachel.

Klaus looked at Ava pointedly. "Klaus and I knew each other a long time ago." she said, looking down at the ground.

"Who's Klaus?"

"That would be me. Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Niklaus. Ava and I go back a long time, don't we sweetheart?"

All heads turned to face Ava with quizzical expressions.

"Klaus and I were, uhm, well we were together when we were both human."

"And?" Klaus prompted.

"And he and his brother saved me from a, uh, difficult situation."

"Stop holding back, what else?" he said, smirking.

"And then they turned me."

Ava knew what Klaus was working towards, and she wasn't going to help him get there. Evidently, he'd worked this out for himself.

"And then, after a couple of hundred years, she decides she's bored. _Bored_. So she ups and leaves, but not before ripping mine and my brothers hearts straight from our chests. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"What has this got to do with anything?" asked Sophia in a hushed voice, looking nervously between Ava and Klaus.

"Well, I'm still quite angry at her for it, you see. I wouldn't bother, but after that move she pulled in the kitchen, I decided enough was enough. It's time that Little Miss Perfect suffered the consequences of her actions."

An uneasy atmosphere engulfed the room as the humans sensed the danger within. Stefan had left his spot on the couch to stand besides Klaus and was stood with his arms folded. Klaus' gaze was sweeping over everyone in the room. He did this for a few excruciatingly long moments before turning to Ava. He let go of her arm and pointed over at Rachel.

"Kill that one."


	24. Chapter 22

**9****th**** July, 2011**

There was a beat of silence within which everyone but Stefan stared at Klaus. Ava was the first one to break it.

"What?" she said in disbelief. Was he really going to make her kill one of her friends for something she did over 700 years ago?

"Kill her."

Sophia, Oliver, Jack, Dan and Sam formed a protective circle around Rachel and glared over at Klaus. Ava's heart sank. Didn't they realise that if Klaus wanted to kill Rachel, he'd easily be able to get through their defences?

"This has nothing to do with them. They don't have to suffer for what I did."

"I don't want them to suffer. I want you to."

"Klaus, please…"

"You know," Klaus turned away from Ava and addressed the others. "Your friend Ava used to be quite the killer. "She'd go from town to town leaving a bloody trail of bodies behind her. Like a tiger. She was magnificent."

Her friends - if they would still want to be her friends after this, which she doubted - were staring at her with identical expressions of horror.

"That was a long time ago." she murmured ashamedly.

"One poor bloke asked her for…well, we never knew what he wanted. She'd ripped his throat out before he could finish his sentence." Klaus told them wickedly. They were all still staring at her, utterly horror-struck. He turned back to Ava. "Now, kill her."

"Please don't do this. I'll do anything. Take me away with you, if you want, just don't make me do this." Ava begged him.

"Oh, you're coming with me whether you like it or not, but first you're going to kill the girl. You can either do it willingly or I'll _make _you."

"You can't make her do anything!" exclaimed Sam both bravely and utterly idiotically. Ava groaned internally. She'd never told Sam about compulsion. She'd never seen the need to. He didn't know that Klaus could make her do anything.

"Oh, I can." said Klaus, grinning. He placed his hand on the side of her face and turned her to face him. Her gaze left Sam's, who she'd been staring at, trying to convey him a message to tell him to shut up, unwillingly and met Klaus'.

"Please don't do this. This doesn't have to happen. I'll do anything, please!" she begged desperately but to no avail.

"Love is a vampire's greatness weakness, lovely. We do not feel and we do not care. You do not care. You feel nothing for these people, not until I say otherwise, they're nothing but worthless humans, and you're going to kill the blonde girl."

She could feel the emotion ebbing away. She tried to cling on to the last tendrils of feeling as they washed away into nothing. Her gaze left Klaus and she turned around the face her former friends. They were staring at her apprehensively, waiting for her to make a move. She felt nothing. Klaus was right. They were nothing but humans. A step lower than her in the food chain.

Klaus pushed her hair back behind her ear and murmured "Now, show them what you can do, sweetheart."

Ava took a deliberate step forward and locked her gaze onto Rachel's who was now looking utterly terrified. She took another few slow, deliberate steps forward keeping her expression devoid of any emotion. Sam, who was stood the nearest to her, attempted to block her way. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her off course.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

Ava didn't spare him so much as a glance. She pulled her hand from his grasp, wrapped it around his wrist and twisted. The sound of his arm breaking echoed through the room along with his cry of pain.

"Never stand in the way of a tigress and her prey, mate." said Klaus from behind her. Ava didn't see Sam's reaction because her gaze was still fixed on Rachel.

Oliver, Jack, Dan and Sophia all pushed their way in front of Rachel.

"If you want to kill Rach, you'll have to go through us first." said Dan, staring Ava down. She chuckled softly.

"Don't be stupid. I could take all four of you out with my eyes closed. Move out of the way and I may just spare your life."

None of them moved.

"Very well. On your own head be it."

Sophia was first. She got a backhanded slap, sending her rocketing into the sofa where she lay motionless having been knocked unconscious. She grabbed Jack and Oliver and banged their heads together. She did it hard enough to concuss them both, but not that hard that she'd leave any lasting damage. Dan got the same treatment as Sam. She grabbed his arm and twisted it up his back until a resounding crack sounded.

With all her obstructions either unconscious or too injured to help - because that's all they were to her right now, purely obstructions and nothing else - she turned her attention to Rachel who was cowering against the wall.

Ava pulled forth the monster that she'd been suppressing for decades. The whites of her eyes flushed red, the veins protruded and the fangs descended.

A muffled scream was all that could be heard as Ava went straight for Rachel's neck and ripped out the carotid artery.

She let Rachel's lifeless body fall to the floor. Job well done, she thought. She raised a hand to wipe the blood from her mouth as her face returned to normal. She turned around to find Dan and Sam - the only two who were still conscious - staring at her with expressions of mingled shock, fear and horror, and Klaus looking on with a grin. Stefan simply looked bored.

"Fantastic." said Klaus. "That's my girl."

Ava grinned and made her way back over to where he stood. "Are we leaving?"

"In a moment. There's just one more thing." he captured her gaze once again. "Now you can feel again."

Her triumphant expression slowly disappeared to be replaced by the same horrified expression that was plastered to the faces of Dan and Sam as all her humanity came rushing back.

"Why?" was all that she could say.

"Call it my own personal form of torture."


	25. Chapter 23

**9****th**** July 2011**

Ava turned away from Klaus, the horror of the situation hitting her for the first time. Sophia, Jack and Oliver were all coming around. Dan and Sam were knelt next to Rachel who was dead.

She turned to Klaus who was watching the scene with a smug smile. He met Ava's horrified gaze and laughed.

"Oh come on, sweetheart, it could have been a lot worse."

Ava started forwards with the intention of feeding her blood to Rachel. She might not be dead yet, Ava thought desperately. They could save her. Klaus, however, had other ideas. He gripped her upper arm, stopping her from moving away from him.

"I don't think so. You're coming with me."

Ava glared at him. She considered attempting to break his arm.

Almost as if he had read her mind, Klaus shook his head. "Don't. Otherwise your boyfriend will be next."

Both of them looked over at Sam, who had left Rachel's side and was now glaring at them with a mixture of anger and revulsion.

"What have you done?" he demanded of Ava, cradling his broken arm.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears springing to her eyes. "He made me, I didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice!"

"You don't understand!"

"Spare me the insignificant drama." Klaus said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, we're leaving."

"What? No! I can't just leave!"

"You don't have a choice."

"Go." said Sam.

She turned away from Klaus to Sam. Sam was still glaring at her. Sophia, Oliver, Jack and Dan were all by Rachel's side trying desperately to revive her. Every now and then they'd cast a glance of both fear and hatred over their shoulders at her.

"What?"

"Go. Get out. Leave. I don't want you here."

"Sam…" she began.

"No, I don't want to hear it. I just want you to leave. I think I speak for all of us when I say you're not wanted here."

Sophia stood up. There was a red hand mark on her cheek where I'd slapped her and tear tracks.

"You killed her." she said in a wavering voice. "She was one of your best friends and you killed her. How _could _you?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Well, this is dull. I don't know how you stand it, sweetheart." he tightened his grip on Ava's arm. "Well, we'll be going now."

He pulled Ava from the room without another word, despite her struggles that were incredibly weak against his unbreakable hold.

"I don't want to come with you!" Ava hissed through gritted teeth as he dragged her down the driveway.

"Shut up and get in the car."

She opened her mouth to protest when Klaus pinned her against the car, a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Careful, Ava. The more you struggle the more likely I am to go back in there and rip each one of them limb from limb."

Ava glared at him but kept her mouth shut.

"Get in the car." he demanded, opening the door for her.

**11****th**** July, 2011**

"Here," said Klaus, shoving an unconscious male at Ava. She took him from Klaus without so much as a glance in his direction, earning herself a reprimand. He snatched the man back and held him out of Ava's reach.

"Ah, what do you say?"

She glared. She hated him. She hated him so much.

"Thank you." she muttered.

"Thank you, what?"

"Thank you, Klaus."

"That's more like it." he pushed the man back at her, turning to his own meal. Stefan had already finished his and was eyeing Ava's hungrily. Hastily, Ava bared her fangs and bit into the exposed neck of the man. She'd have preferred to drink from a blood bag but she knew Klaus would say no.

She'd forgotten how _good _blood tasted when it was fresh. It was the first time in decades she'd drank it straight from the neck of a human. Wow.

It took her less than a few minutes to drain her human dry. When she'd finished she pushed him off her, wiping the blood from her mouth as she went. She regretted drinking from him almost instantly. He was dead and it was her fault. He could have a wife, children, a whole life somewhere out there, and she'd taken that from him.

"It'll get easier sweetheart. The more you feed, the less you care. Just ask Stefan."

"Whatever. It doesn't change the facts."

"Which are?"

"You're a dick."

Klaus laughed. "I see you've lost none of your charm."

"You forced me to kill one of my friends, turned my boyfriend and all my other friends against me and practically kidnapped me, sorry if I don't greet you with open arms."

"Oh, darling. The sooner you get over that, the better."

"Elijah wouldn't have done it." she muttered, turning her whole body away from him.

"Elijah's dead." Klaus said, his voice suddenly harsh.

"Dead or daggered?" she replied without looking at him.

"Daggered, as are all of my family. What did you think the truck was for, furniture?"

Ava sighed. It had barely been two days and she was already sick and tired of Klaus. He had changed and not in a good way. The Klaus she'd known previously was kind, gentle and considerate…he'd loved her…this Klaus was arrogant, aggressive and just not nice at all.

"What do you want from me, Klaus?"

"I want many things from you, Ava, but I'll start with your allegiance."


	26. Chapter 24

**11****th**** July, 2011**

"My allegiance? Really? You can have my allegiance when hell freezes over."

"Well, that can be arranged."

"Oh, will you two stop fighting like an old married couple." said Stefan, getting up and leaving the room.

"Don't mind him," Klaus told her happily as Stefan left the room. He didn't seem at all perturbed by Stefan's attitude. Perhaps he was used to it.

"Missing your boyfriend?" he asked pleasantly, traces of a smirk playing on his lips which were stained red.

"I have nothing to say to you." she shot at him.

"Oh, come on!" he shoved the now-dead girl that he'd been feeding from and came over to where Ava was sat. He knelt down in front of her and cupped her face. She tried to pull away but he pulled her back. She knew that if she continued to resist he'd be more than able to snap her neck. "Are you telling me that you're not even the slightest bit relieved? The charade is over! You don't have to pretend anymore. You don't have to act like a human, you can embrace your nature. You've done it once, I saw it, and you were fantastic. I'd quite like to see that side of you again."

"Never." she snarled.

Klaus sighed. "What happened to you, Ava?"

"What happened to _me_?" Ava said incredulously, getting up and standing over him. Had he seriously just asked her that? "What happened to _you_, Klaus? You used to be _nice_! What happened to the man who rescued me from an abusive marriage? Or the man that held my hand when I gave birth? Do you remember him? Because I do. Instead I get to deal with you. Maybe if you hadn't compelled me to kill my friend and then forced me to come with, I might be a little more willing to cooperate. Stop acting like a spoilt brat throwing a tantrum because you haven't got what you want for once." she spat the words out venomously.

He glared at her, his chest heaving as he inhaled and exhaled heavily. She wondered if she'd pushed him too far and he would rip her heart from her chest and be done with it.

"You're one to talk." he said quietly, standing up so that she had to look up at him. "Do you remember the time you walked out on my brother and I without so much as a thought for either of our feelings?"

"That was seven hundred years ago!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Get over it!"

"I'll get over it when you get over the fact that I forced you to kill your friend."

"That was two days ago! Are you serio-my _God_ you are impossible!"

"Get over it."

* * *

><p>After storming out of the room in a towering temper and taking herself a good distance away from Klaus, she almost walked into Stefan who seemed to be returning from wherever he'd gone earlier.<p>

"Someone got up on the wrong side of bed this morning." Stefan said after glancing at my expression.

"Shut up." she snapped.

"What's he done?"

"What hasn't he done?"

Stefan grinned but didn't say anything.

"How do you stand him? I mean, seriously?"

His grin soured. "I don't really have a choice."

"What?"

"I sort of…have to be here."

"Why?"

"Klaus saved my brother. We made a deal. He saves my brother and I do whatever he wants."

"You're welcome."

They both span around to find Klaus leaning against the wall behind Them. He didn't look angry anymore, but he didn't look particularly happy either.

Just the sight of him made her angry, like searing flames were crashing through her body, erasing any rational thought she might have had. She hated him. No, she _despised _him with everything she had.

Well, not quite everything. There was a part of her that was buried deep, deep down that didn't hate him at all. Not even a little bit. Because she knew that somewhere deep inside of him was the side of him that she'd fallen in love with all those years ago. He kept that part of him under lock and key.

"Over your temper tantrum yet?" Klaus asked Ava, folding his arms.

She glared at him but didn't rise. That was what he wanted. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Stop antagonising her. Can we go? I'm bored."

Klaus tore his gaze away from Ava's scowl and focused on Stefan. "I suppose so. We only stopped to feed, anyway."

"Where are we going?" Ava asked.

"Far away."

Ava bit down on her bottom lip. Obviously she had no choice, she had to go with Klaus, but before she went, she wanted, no, needed to make amends with her friends. Even if they didn't accept it, she needed to apologise. No doubt they were all still grieving over her apparent betrayal and the death of Rachel. She needed to apologise to each and every one of them. Especially Sam. Oh God. Her stomach twisted with guilt and longing and the thought of Sam. He was so kind and giving and caring. What had he ever done to deserve such an awful girlfriend?

She sighed. In a way Klaus was right. It was a bit of a relief to be able to give up the charade. To stop the pretence. After decades of living the human lifestyle it was a breath of fresh air.

The thought did nothing to endear Klaus to her. In fact, it only made her dislike him further for being right.


	27. Chapter 25

**25****th**** July, 2011**

It had taken her almost two weeks but she'd finally managed to give Klaus the slip. He had originally planned to leave town immediately but he'd been distracted by a new lead on his hybrid plan. Or something. She wasn't entirely sure. She had no interest in any of his plans.

She stood outside the house that she and Sam had bought together, gazing up at it. It would be an understatement to say that she felt less than welcome here now.

She took a step towards the gate when he cell phone began to vibrate angrily in her pocket. She took it out and, to no surprise, saw Klaus' name flashing up on the screen. She ignored it and pushed it back into her pocket. She didn't have long. She was sure that Klaus would work out where she'd gone.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way down the driveway until she reached the front door. She didn't have her keys and, though she was sure she could easily unlock the door with a little force, she thought that knocking would be the best thing to do. Forcing her way inside wouldn't do anything for her.

She knocked on the door and then took a step back, waiting nervously for a response.

The door swung open to reveal a rather dishevelled-looking Sam with his arm in a cast. He took one look at her and made to close the door. She was quicker though. She grabbed the door and forced it back open. He seemed to realise that he really was no match for her, especially with only one working arm, and stopped trying to slam the door on her.

"Why are you here?" he hissed, glaring at her with such intense dislike that it startled her slightly.

"I came to apologise." she said, keeping her hand on the door just in case.

"Apologise? You break mine and Dan's arms, knock Soph, Jack and Oliver unconscious and _kill _Rachel and you think that an _apology_ will cut it? You _killed _her, Ava. She's dead and it's your fault. You honestly think that you can just show up here after disappearing for weeks and say 'sorry'."

Ava let her gaze drop to the ground beneath her. He didn't understand. He would never understand. Not unless he had his will taken from him like she had.

"I wanted to explain, as well, why Klaus was able to make me do what I did. I know it's not enough…not nearly enough, but I couldn't leave without at least trying to make you understand."

"Does _he _know that you're here?"

She knew that he was referring to Klaus.

"You honestly think that he would have let me come?"

"Oh, brilliant. So the chances that he's going to turn up and kill us all himself are pretty high, then?"

Ava ignored this jibe. She needed to explain and she needed to explain fast.

"He compelled me, Sam."

"What does that even mean?"

"It's a form of mind control. Normal vampires, like me, can use it on humans but not supernatural creatures…Klaus is one of the Originals…he can use it on vampires."

"Mind control? _Mind contro-_holy shit, Ava. Did you never think that this was worth mentioning?"

"Well I never intended on using it on you, on anyone, and I'd cut myself off from, you know, that life, decades ago, so I didn't think it was important."

"Did you ever use it on me?"

"No! Of course not!"

Sam was still glaring at her, but the intense dislike had lessened slightly. It wasn't much, but it was progress.

"Sam?"

Ava whipped around to find the remainder of her friends (Sophia, Dan, Jack and Oliver) standing at the foot of the drive, staring at the pair of them.

"What's she doing here?" asked Sophia, failing to acknowledge Ava.

"I came to apologise."

"_Apologise?_" scoffed Dan. He didn't look good. His hair was greasy and he obviously hadn't shaved in a while. Rachel's death must have had a bigger impact on him than on the others…he had been in love with her, after all.

Ava opened her mouth to respond when her cell began to vibrate again. She pulled it out to find Stefan's name flashing up on the screen this time. Well, that was blindingly obvious. Klaus had obviously asked him to call her to see if she would pick up, thus determining whether or not she was deliberately ignoring Klaus' call. She pushed the phone back into her pocket and looked back up at them.

"Oh, sorry, are we keeping you from something?" asked Sophia in a voice that Ava had never heard her use before. It was so…cold.

"Look, like I just told Sam, I couldn't not kill her. Klaus compelled me…I didn't have a choice…you can't resist compulsion."

"She was your friend. A good friend." said Jack.

"I know. And I am so, _so_ sorry. I would do anything to take it back, but I can't."

"Really? That's not what it looked like to us. You killed her and then you took off with your ex-boyfriend."

"I had to! If I didn't he would have killed you all. I was trying to protect you."

"A likely story!" said Sophia in disbelieving tones.

"I'm telling the truth! Look, you don't have to believe me. I came here to explain and apologise. I'm really sorry, all of you."

"Well, isn't this cosy?"

Crap.

Ava was the last one to turn around because she knew very well who she was going to find. She found herself looking into the very angry face of her captor.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I could ask you the same question. I don't recall giving you permission to run back to your pathetic group of…friends."

"I was going to come back."

"Were you?" Through the anger, Ava could hear something else in his voice, something almost undetectable. Was that…? Was he _hurt_ by the fact that she'd gone behind his back to come back here? Surely not. Besides, she'd only come back to apologise.

"Yes."

"I hope for your friend's sake that you're telling the truth, otherwise my hand might just slip…" he sped over to where Sam was stood and lifted him clean off the ground with his left hand. "…and tear lover boy's heart from his chest."


	28. Chapter 26

**25****th**** July, 2011**

Ava gaped in horror at the scene that was unfolding before her eyes; Klaus had Sam by the neck and was holding him a few feet off the ground. He turned around to face Ava with a sly smirk playing on his lips. Sam was struggling feebly against Klaus' hold and was slowly turning red from the pressure that Klaus was exerting on him.

"Put him down, Klaus." she said, not wanting to seem too desperate, knowing that this would do absolutely nothing in Sam's favour.

"Give me one good reason why."

She threw her hands up in exasperation, losing her temper. "One? I can give you a thousand but you won't listen to any of them! I came here to apologise, Klaus. To clear my name. I wasn't trying to run away or betray you or anything like that but now I'm considering it. Can you not, for once, resort to violence to prove your point? I get it, ok? We all get it! You're like a fucking child."

Klaus had set Sam back down on the ground and had turned his attention on Ava. He wasn't used to people standing up to him, usually because they were dead before they could get their words out, or too scared to utter anything in his presence.

Ava wasn't afraid of him, though. If he wanted to kill her then so be it.

"I'd watch your mouth if I was you, love."

"Or what, you'll kill me? Go ahead, _sweetheart._ Rip my heart out, drive a stake through my heart. At least then I'll be free of you." she spat the words out, half hoping that he'd take her advice and pull her heart from her chest, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. Besides, he wasn't through with her yet. There was a reason he was keeping her around and though she didn't know what it was, yet, she knew that he wasn't going to kill her before he'd used whatever aspect of her it was that he was keeping her around for.

When he didn't answer her, she turned on her heel and shoved her way past Sophia, Jack and Daniel who had all been watching the exchange between Ava and Klaus with gaping mouths and horror-struck expressions. She didn't bother to look back as she stormed off down the driveway, hoping to put as much distance between her and Klaus as was possible.

She had been telling the truth when she'd said that she wasn't planning on run away, and she'd been truthful when she'd said she was now considering it. He infuriated her. No, he made her livid. She wanted to wrap her fingers around his throat and crush his bones. She'd find only a sick kind of pleasure from shoving a wooden stake through his heart, whether it killed him or not.

She should have known that he wouldn't let her get far. She'd barely reached the end of the road when he was in front of her looking almost as angry as she felt.

"Going somewhere?"

"As far away from you as possible." she hissed vehemently, attempting to walk past him.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back effortlessly. "Not so fast."

She pulled her wrist out of his grasp and glared at him. "What? What do you want with me Klaus? For seven hundred years I don't see you and then you just pop up and start causing trouble. I get that what happened between us hurt you, and I'm sorry, but it was seven hundred years ago! Why are you trying to punish me for it _now_? Why not back then?"

He looked at her with an odd expression that she couldn't quite put a finger on. There was anger, she could see that as plain as day, but there was something else and she couldn't quite work it out.

"Go."

"What?"

"Go. Just go."

"You're letting me go?"

"For a while, yes. You can go. Wherever you want, but…" he captured her gaze and suddenly she knew what was about to happen before it did. His pupil contracted and she was completely and utterly under his influence. "You will come back to me. You will _always _come back to me."

He blinked and she was released from his compulsion as a new wave of anger crashed over her. He'd done it again. He'd taken away her free will and forced her into doing exactly what he wanted.

"Now get out of my sight."


	29. Chapter 27

**15th August, 2011**_  
><em>

_"Did you hear about the body that was found yesterday?"_

_"Another one?"_

_"It's just like the others, the bodies are mutilated and drained of blood. I still think it's a vampire."_

_"You're seriously still on that?"_

_"Well what else would drain a human body of blood?"_

_"Seriously, Jack? Are we really going to have this conversation again?"_

Ava smirked to herself. Humans, so blissfully ignorant. Whilst his friends might have mocked and made fun of him, Jack was right. Vampires were behind the onslaught of murders that had been happening over the past couple of weeks. Well, one vampire and one hybrid. They were drawing attention to themselves by leaving bodies all over the place, but when you're the oldest, strongest vampire in this history of time, it didn't really matter. Klaus was really revelling in having his werewolf side released.

Ava ordered herself a drink from the bartender and repositioned herself on the stool she was sitting on into a more comfortable position. Klaus and Stefan were close, the bodies were proof of that, and she was more than willing to stay out of it. Klaus was angry with her for going back to Sam. She'd only wanted to apologise, but Klaus never listened to reason. She'd figured that keeping out of his way was the best way to stay alive. He let her go wherever she pleased, as long as she'd come back, and he knew very well that she'd come back, because he'd done the one thing that would ensure that she would. He'd taken away her free will, her choice, and made it so that no matter what happened, she would always return. Her anger had, for the most part, burned out. She'd been away for three weeks, more than enough time for her to calm down. She hadn't heard from Klaus, but that wasn't surprising. He had no reason to doubt her return. He'd taken care of that, she thought bitterly. He was no longer the sweet, well-mannered young man that had swept her off her feet during her last months as a human. The years had changed him, it had changed all of them. Klaus more than most. Neither he or Elijah had actually told Ava what had happened during those months after she'd been dragged kicking and screaming back to England apart from that when they'd become vampires, they'd discovered that Klaus was actually a werewolf, too, because their mother had apparently had an affair, resulting in the birth of Klaus.

She didn't need them to tell her for her to work out that their Father had not taken that at all well. He had always had a fiery temper and to have that amplified a hundred fold…well, the consequences could have only been disastrous.

"Excuse me?"

Ava turned to find a young man stood behind her looking a little nervous. She felt a stab of familiarity, did she know him?

"Yes?"

"Are you Ava?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Who's asking?"

He pulled out the stool next to her and sat down on it before extending his arm. "I'm Thomas."

Ava took his hand and shook it, still surveying him through narrowed eyes. "Have we met before?"

"Not exactly." said Thomas nervously. He was wringing his hands together absent-mindedly as he surveyed Ava nervously.

Ava was in no mood for riddles of any sort today. She was returning to Klaus later on that day, and she knew that he would be expecting an apology. The thought made her want to break something.

"Spit it out, darling." she said rather shortly, taking a swig from the glass in front of her.

"Ok…" Thomas took a deep breath. "I think that…I think, well, I think that you're my mother."

Ava spat her drink out as a snort of laughter forced itself out of her. "What?" she said, wiping her mouth.

"I think that you're my mother." he repeated slowly, confused by her reaction.

"Oh, sweetheart. I can tell you right now that I am not your mother." she paused. "I mean, do I look old enough to have a child as old as you? I would have had to have had you when I was like, I don't know, five."

"I think that you're more than old enough to have had a child my age." Thomas said slyly, raising an eyebrow.

The disbelieving expression that Ava had been wearing immediately snapped to one of suspicion. "What did you just say?"

"I said that I think you're more than old enough to have a child as old as me. I mean, a thousand years gives you more than enough time, right?"

Suspicion was immediately replaced by utter shock. It was impossible. He couldn't be…could he?

"I don't know whose idea of a joke this is, but it's a very poor one. If you come near me again I'll rip your head off." Ava snapped in a low voice. She slid off the barstool and swiftly exited the bar, leaving Thomas alone. She strode through the parking lot furiously. Was this Klaus' idea of a joke? After all, he and Elijah were the only ones who knew of her baby and Elijah wouldn't have wasted his time on such an immature joke.

She was pulling open her car door when she heard a voice behind her.

"Wait!"

Thomas was hurrying after her. He was pulling something out of his rucksack. Ava was losing patience.

"Wait! I can prove it! I have this," out of his rucksack he pulled what looked like an extremely old piece of parchment encased in a glass holder.

Ava snatched it from him and felt the anger that had been coursing through her body ebb away. Pressed between the glass was a letter. It read:

_Please don't think that I abandoned you - I did not. _

_I'm doing what is best for you. _

_I love you, more than my own life. _

_- Ava._

Ava was almost shaking. She remembered writing the letter mere hours after giving birth to the baby she had had to give up. She remembered going over and over the words in her head. She'd originally planned to write a long letter explaining her choice to give up her son, but she'd eventually decided on this. She remembered exactly how utterly heartbroken she had been, but she had had no other choice.

"This proves _nothing_." Ava spat at the boy, thrusting the letter back at him. "You could have got this anywhere!"

"But I didn't! They gave it to me, as soon as I turned eighteen they told me everything. They told me how you came, midway through labour, accompanied by two men. They told me how you broke down and sobbed when you gave me up, how you left, leaving nothing behind but this letter and the promise that they would never see you again.."

Ava glared at him. That still proved nothing. If Charlotte and her husband had written down what had happened that day then it would be only too easy for anyone to impersonate her long lost son.

"Klaus put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Wha-who's Klaus?"

She pulled out her phone and called Klaus. How dare he. He and he alone knew how damn heartbroken she'd been. It was a sore subject, even after a thousand years.

"Ava!" came Klaus' voice as soon as he picked up. He seemed to be in an entirely better mood. "I was beginning to worry."

"Really, Klaus? Hiring someone to pretend to be my son? That's low even for you."

"What?"

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I honestly don't."

Strange. Usually Klaus had no problem owning up to what he'd done. He wasn't one to let the credit go to someone else.

Without another word, Ava hung up and turned to face the boy who was watching her apprehensively.

"Lets say that, for arguments sake, you are my son. How did you find me?"

"Private investigator." he said simply.

"And you're a vampire?"

"Well, obviously."

"When were you turned?"

"11th March, 1039."

"You were turned on your birthday?" she said in a hushed voice, momentarily forgetting that she didn't actually believe that Thomas was her son.

Thomas looked a little taken aback. "You remember when my birthday is?"

Could it be true? Klaus hadn't set it up and Elijah was lay in a coffin with a dagger through his heart, and they were the only people who knew about her baby.

She knew now why she'd felt the stab of familiarity when she'd first seen him. He looked like…

No.

It couldn't be.

He didn't have any of the features that would have cropped up in any child of Alexander's. That was because he wasn't Alexander's child.

It made no sense…they'd been together once, very briefly before Ava had been dragged back to England.

Alexander wasn't the father.

_Fuck._


	30. Chapter 28

** I will be changing the names of the Originals to the ones in the show, but I'll do a key to stop any confusion:**

**Aurelia - Rebekah**

**15****th**** August, 2011**

Ava swore loudly. She'd been _so _sure that the baby was Alexander's. If it were down to odds then they were definitely in his favour, but apparently it didn't work like that.

Klaus would be angry if he found out. He'd been pissed enough when he thought that the baby was Alexander's…if he found out who the father really was…he'd be livid. She had, after all, been 'courting' him when the baby was conceived. The fact that she'd had a night of passion with his brother behind his back would surely enrage him.

It was fine. She just wouldn't tell him. It had been over a thousand years, he needn't find out about it now.

Except…she'd already mentioned it to him. She'd phoned him up and accused him of being behind it.

Damn it, Ava. _Think_ before you accuse Klaus of hiring someone to pretend to be your long-lost son because it could actually turn out to be your long-lost son, fathered by Klaus' brother, she thought to herself. She was so dead.

"So, uh, do you believe me?"

Oh, God. She'd almost forgotten Thomas was there. _Thomas, _eurgh. She didn't like that name. She certainly wouldn't have chosen it.

Focus. Ok. It wasn't relevant at that moment in time.

"Yeah, I guess so." she muttered, biting down on her bottom lip worriedly. She shut her car door and pocketed her keys. "So…uhm, how did you know that you'd be able to find me? I mean, surely the records say that I died?"

"It wasn't easy, believe me. I managed to track down a man called Alexander who used to have a wife that fitted your description."

Ava paled slightly. She'd hoped that Alexander would _never _get anywhere near her child.

"But when I got there, he was dead, as were most of his family and friends. I did, however, get to speak to one person who told me a very interesting story."

"Did that story involve said wife returning as a monster to attack Alexander and threaten him with a gruesome death in the near future?"

"As a matter of fact, it did."

"And did she then return a decade or two later to kill Alexander?"

"That's how I heard it."

Ava smirked. The memories still brought a deep sense of satisfaction to her, and so they should. He'd put her through hell.

"Was he my father?"

The smirk fell from Ava's face and she looked Thomas in the eye. It would be safer to lie. The fact that the father of her child was Elijah would be a secret that she took to the grave.

"Yes."

"And yet you killed him?"

"He was a disgusting human being. Killing him didn't get him back for even half of what he put me through."

"What did he do?"

"He was a dick. Let's leave it at that."

Thomas didn't look satisfied with that answer. In fact, he looked like he had a ton of questions to ask her. Questions that he'd most probably been harbouring for hundreds of years. And she wanted to answer them. Truthfully. Or, as truthfully as was safe. But she had to go. She had to return to Klaus and somehow manage to convince him that the whole thing earlier was nothing significant.

"Look, I know that you have questions. I certainly have a lot for you, but I can't do it right now. I have somewhere to be."

Thomas nodded and dug into his pocket before pulling a small scrap of paper. He smoothed it out and glanced at the writing on it before handing it over to her. She glanced down to find a phone number scribbled on the paper.

"Call me."

* * *

><p>"Where are you?"<p>

"Hello to you, too, sweetheart."

Ava rolled her eyes but did nothing to alleviate her irritation with him except press her foot down on the accelerator, causing her car to speed down the highway, going way over the speed limit.

"Are you driving?"

"Yes."

"Get of the phone. We don't want any nasty little accidents."

Ava laughed. "Let's skip the part where you pretend to care about me. Where are you?"

Klaus sighed. "Chicago."

"What are you doing there?"

"Hybrid business, of course. We've hit a little snag so I'm trying to find a solution."

"_Nik? What on earth is that?" _came a voice from the other end of the phone.

"It's a mobile phone, sister."

"Is that _Rebekah_?"

"Unfortunately."

"_Why are you being so mean? Who are you talking to?"_

"I have to go. How long will you be?" said Klaus, his irritation at his sister leaking through to his conversation with Ava.

"I don't know, a couple of hours, maybe."

"Call me when you get here, I'll meet you."

"I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way around, Niklaus. I don't need an escort."

"I'm not doing it for your benefit, I'm doing it for mine. An hour she's been out of that coffin and already I want to shove her back in." He muttered.

"_I heard that!" _

Ava laughed. "Right. Whatever. Bye."

* * *

><p>Getting to Chicago didn't take as long as Ava had expected. She pulled up in a random parking lot before pulling out her phone.<p>

"I'm here."

"Where abouts are you?"

She told him the name of the street that she'd parked on, trying to ignore Rebekah's complaints in the background. He told her he'd be there soon and hung up.

She chucked her phone onto the passenger seat and sighed. She was almost a hundred percent sure than an argument was going to ensue between them. He was all riled up over having Rebekah back and would be expecting an apology from her for the whole Sam thing. She was all riled up over Thomas and had no intention of apologising.

It was a recipe for disaster.

* * *

><p>She wasn't startled when the passenger door of her car opened and in came Klaus. She'd heard his approach long before she'd seen him.<p>

"Did you walk?"

"Mhm."

"You know, you could have just given me directions."

"I could have. But Rebekah is doing my head in. She's still angry about me killing her."

"That's what you get for being a bastard."

He shot her a dark look. "Did anyone ever tell you how _irritating_ you are?"

"Did anyone ever tell _you _how irritating you are?"

"Touché."

He handed her, her phone that he'd picked up from the seat before sitting down.

"Are you still angry at me for hurting your boyfriend?"

"That depends, are you still angry at me for going there to apologise to him? And he's not my boyfriend. Not anymore."

"It's not on my list of priorities, so no."

"In that case, I guess we're ok. As long as you stop acting like a spoilt brat."

He smirked at her and she frowned. Why was he being so nice to her? Normally their conversations were full of thinly veiled insults and out right threats, yet he was being perfectly…nice.

"What are you up to? Why are you being nice to me?"

He looked at her silently. Just looked at her. His gaze was so intense that she felt almost as if she were unable to move. She watched silently as he came closer and the tension between them, that had always been there, began to reach it's breaking point.

"Do you hate me?" he murmured when their faces were only inches apart.

"More than ever." she whispered back. It wasn't exactly a lie. She did hate him. So much. But that didn't mean that she wasn't attracted to him.

"Good."

Then he kissed her.


	31. Chapter 29

**15****th**** August, 2011**

It would be a lie to say she hadn't seen that one coming. She kissed him back tentatively for a few moments before she realised that what she was doing went against everything she stood for. She pulled back abruptly and stared at him in shock. He stared right back at her, saying nothing. He raised an eyebrow and it happened. The tension between them broke like an elastic band.

Oh, what the hell, she thought to herself. She was over a thousand years old; if she wanted to have sex with the man she hated then she would do just that. Fuck morals.

"I hate you so much." she muttered, grabbing him by the collar and crashing her lips against his.

* * *

><p>"Where have you two been?" asked Stefan as Ava and Klaus arrived at the bar whose owner apparently held all the answers for Klaus' hybrid problem.<p>

"We were…otherwise engaged." said Ava before Klaus could speak. She glanced over at Klaus and caught him smirking at Stefan in a way that told Stefan exactly what they'd been doing. He caught Ava's eye and let the smirk drop from his face.

"Ah! There you are!"

Ava turned to find Klaus' sister, Rebekah, striding towards them. She was dressed in what appeared to be a dress straight from the 1920s with a patch of blood over where her heart was. It seemed that she was still dressed in the clothes that her brother had killed her in.

"Oh, it's you." she said once she caught sight of Ava.

"Nice to see you, too, Rebekah."

"What's she doing here?" she asked Klaus, looking past Ava.

Ava rolled her eyes. She should have known that Rebekah would have been less than happy to see her. Whilst they may have been sort-of-friends whilst they were humans, it was no secret that Rebekah disapproved of the way that Ava had treated her brothers.

Ava couldn't say she really blamed her.

"She's here because I want her here."

"Still got him wrapped around your little finger, then?" Rebekah muttered to Ava with a cold look.

"Rebekah." said Klaus warningly. "Don't mind her, she's just upset that she's been dead for ninety years."

Ava considered making some scathing comment but she knew that Rebekah's temper was worse than Klaus' and Rebekah was stronger than she'd ever be. She was an Original after all.

"I need a drink." said Stefan. Rebekah glanced at the bar but Stefan was heading out of the room. She assumed that by a drink he meant a _proper _drink.

"I'll go with you." said Rebekah, hurrying after him. Ava didn't know whether it was because she just wanted to spend time with Stefan or because she'd been dead for ninety years and therefore was probably incredibly thirsty. She wouldn't have cared, either, if her departure didn't mean that her and Klaus were left alone together.

Ava felt awkward now, like a teenager after her first time. She regretted it, too. It had seemed like a brilliant idea when they'd been ripping each others clothes off in the back of her car. He'd certainly improved over the centuries. He'd been more than satisfactory back in the day but now…

She smirked to herself at the memories and turned her head away from Klaus who was sat at the other end of the bar. She pushed a hand through her hair in an attempt to act casual as though Klaus would know what she was thinking just by her body language.

But still, despite the fact that the memories _were _capable of stirring up incredibly pleasurable sensations in the pit of her stomach, it had been wrong. So very wrong. The worst thing she'd ever done. Apart from killing people.

Ok, it hadn't been wrong at all. She clasped her hands together and began wringing them agitatedly. She didn't want to feel that way about him. She hated him. That's how it was supposed to be. She hated him and he hated her. Period.

Except that she didn't hate him. Not at all.

Yes, he had forced her to kill Rachel and attempted to kill Sam and ruined the life that she'd built around Sam and her friends but if she was honest with herself, living as a human hadn't been the happiest years of her life. She'd been suppressing her nature and basic instincts.

Overall, Klaus had done more for her than anyone else she'd ever met. He'd saved her from Alexander.

Ava turned on her bar stool to find Klaus stood in front of her. He must have moved as soon as she had because he'd still been at the other end of the bar before she'd turned.

"What are you doing?"

"Finishing what we started earlier." he replied, placing his hands on her thighs.

Even though the fire in the pit of her stomach was roaring in approval, she forced herself to object.

"I think not." she scoffed, pushing his hands away.

He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side quizzically.

"We shouldn't have started anything in the first place." she said quietly in case anyone was listening.

"Really? That's not what it sounded like in the back seat of your car."

"You are so inappropriate."

"That's a given." he pushed her hair behind her ear and then trailed his fingers down her neck. He'd placed his other hand back on her thigh and it was now creeping upwards, all the while he kept his gaze firmly on hers.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" she murmured, placing her hand over the one that was now at the top of her thigh.

"Is it working?" he asked as she threaded her fingers between his.

She leaned forwards as though she was about to kiss him. "Not at all." she pushed his hand off her thigh again and slid off her stool. "Nice try, though." She made to walk away despite the fact that every fibre of her body was telling her otherwise. She didn't want to look like a pushover. And she wasn't, not usually. She was no stranger to standing her ground, but it was different when it came to Niklaus. Probably because he was the first person she'd ever loved. Aside from Elijah, but she didn't like to think about that.

Before she could take so much as a step, Klaus had grabbed her wrist, pulled her back and pinned her against the bar.

He didn't wait for her approval. One hand went to her waist and the other knotted in her hair and he was trailing kisses across her jaw line and down her neck.

Her hands were grasping the bottom of his shirt, about to pull it off when they both moved away from each other abruptly. Not because they'd both realised that it was a bad idea and that they'd regret it in the morning, but because the sounds of Stefan and Rebekah's return had just reached their ears.

Talk about bad timing.


	32. Chapter 30

**A/N - Bit of a boring and uneventful chapter, sorry. It's basically just a filler chapter.**

**16****th**** August, 2011**

She was an idiot.

In the light of a new day, Ava could see how completely and utterly foolish it had been to do what she'd done with Klaus last night.

Klaus was her enemy. He would always be her enemy.

It was for that reason - that and the fact that her shame was mounting so high it was almost overwhelming her - that she was back on the highway. She had to get away from him and from Stefan and definitely from Rebekah. She knew he wouldn't be bothered since she had to choice but to return eventually.

The moment that that thought had passed through her head - that Klaus wouldn't be bothered - her phone went off. She grabbed it from the passenger seat and unlocked it.

It was a message. From Klaus.

She opened it to find only three words: _Where are you?_

She ignored it. She didn't exactly know where she was anyway. She'd reply later.

She was about to throw the phone back onto the seat when she noticed a small piece of paper on the floor. She didn't need a closer look to know exactly what it was. Obviously after her jeans had been removed and thrown into the front of the car the previous night, Thomas' number had fallen out of her pocket. Thank God Klaus hadn't seen it.

"I wasn't expecting you to call so soon."

"I found myself at a loose end." Ava smiled at Thomas, Looking at him now, it had been rather obvious that Thomas was her son. He looked more like Elijah than he did her, but she was still there.

"So, my father?"

"What about him?"

"Why did you leave him and run away with two other men?"

Ava smiled ruefully. It sounded awful when he put it like that. If only he knew that one of those two men were actually his father. "Alexander wasn't a nice person. I'd already ran off once before we were married but he tracked me down and brought me back. To say it was an abusive relationship would be putting it lightly."

"Didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't need to. Everyone knew, but I belonged to him. I was his possession in every sense of the word and he could do with me as he pleased. That's just how it was back then."

"What about your family? Surely they didn't just stand by and watch?"

"That's exactly what they did. They had two options. They could either stand by and watch as their daughter was treated like an object whilst they received power and influence as a result of my marriage into perhaps the most powerful family in our area, or they could put a stop to it and lose it all. Power was everything back then. Which option do you think they chose?"

Thomas looked horror-struck. The news that his father was nothing short of a psychopath must have been a horrible shock. At least he hadn't had to live with it, though. Giving him away had kept him safe from all that.

"And the two men? Who were they?"

"Friends." she lied. "I'd known them since I was four years old. They rescued me from that hellhole and eventually turned me."

"Why did you decide to turn?"

Ava sighed. Back then, when vampirism was new, it had seemed like the best thing in the world. Immortality, speed, strength, agility. Who wouldn't want that?

"It was big, new and exciting and I was young and naïve. Why did _you _turn?"

"I fell in love with a girl…" he began hesitantly. He didn't need to say anymore, it was painfully obvious. He'd fallen in love with a girl who'd turned him with the promise of forever. It was a pity that these things never worked out.

"Are you still with her?"

"She's dead."

Ava opened her mouth to reply when she happened to glance at her phone. She'd had it on silent but judging by the amount of missed calls she had, someone had been calling her non-stop. She had a very good idea who that someone was.

"Do you need to get that?" asked Thomas, who had followed her gaze.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh, staring at the display.

"Are you going to get that?"

"I'd really rather not."

Thomas looked at her quizzically and, before she could change her mind, she snatched up the phone and picked up.

"Where the hell are you?" came Klaus' voice as soon as she put the phone to her ear. "Why haven't you been picking up?"

"I'm busy."

"So am I but I still found the time to call you. And text you. You just took off without a word."

"I don't see why that bothers you, you know I'll come back." there was a slight bitterness in her voice. She didn't like the shackles of compulsion.

"Get back here. Rebekah is shopping and I have bigger things to be worrying about than her disapproval of 21st century style."

In the background Ava could hear Rebekah complaining about how the pair of jeans she was trying on were too tight and the top too low cut.

"No way. Don't try and rope me into shopping with your sister, who hates me, by the way. You pulled the dagger out, you deal with her."

With a groan of exasperation, Klaus hung up. Ava breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone better than expected.

"Boyfriend?" asked Thomas, raising his eyebrows.

"Definitely not."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Niklaus and he's an idiot."

"Niklaus? Why is that name familiar?"

Ava raised an eyebrow. Had he _met _Klaus? Why else would the name sound familiar? Surely if Klaus had met him, he would have realised who he was? The resemblance to both her and Elijah was too much to miss.

"Isn't that the name of one of the Originals?"

Oh. Well, that made sense. The Originals were like the royal family of the vampires.

Ava smiled significantly and Thomas gaped. "You're in Klaus' inner circle?" he demanded, leaning forward eagerly.

"Eh, I wouldn't exactly count myself as one of his inner circle. He doesn't exactly trust me."

"Why not?"

"We have a difference of opinion…on almost everything."

"Have you met any of the others?"

"All of them."

Thomas looked very slightly awestruck.

"I should probably get back to him, anyway, if I don't want my head ripped off." She stood up and held her hand out to Thomas hesitantly. She wasn't exactly sure what the right protocol was for saying goodbye to the child she'd given up a thousand years ago.

Thomas took it and shook it politely. "Until next time, then."


	33. Chapter 31

**16****th**** August, 2011**

"Look at me!" exclaimed Rebekah crossly, holding out her arms, as soon as Ava walked into the room.

"You look nice." said Ava, barely glancing at Rebekah's new outfit.

"I look like a prostitute."

Ava eyed Rebekah's outfit, which consisted of a pretty top, shorts and heels. "Oh dear," Ava said with a laugh. "If you think you look like a prostitute, wait until you see Jersey Shore."

Both Stefan and Klaus grinned but Rebekah just stared blankly. "What's Jersey Shore?"

"Nothing. What are we doing here?" she surveyed the room with a raised eyebrow. They were stood in a large, cold, airy room surrounded by a number of coffins. "Lovely furniture, by the way." she added, indicating the coffins. She assumed that the coffins held the bodies of his temporarily dead family. Which meant that one of the coffins held Elijah…

"Dinner." said Klaus shortly. He beckoned to someone she couldn't see and four girls walked into the room. All of them were wearing identical expressions that were so very popular with those who had been compelled.

Ava sighed and glanced over at Klaus. He knew perfectly well that she didn't like feeding straight from the necks of humans and killing them, but he made her do it anyway.

She really needed to get out of her human way of living, she thought to herself, if she was going to be around Klaus.

* * *

><p>"Are you going to tell me where you were this morning or am I going to have to force it out of you?" asked Klaus as soon as they were alone. Stefan had gone to write a name on a wall, apparently, and Rebekah had wondered off to do more shopping.<p>

"I needed to get away." she muttered, sitting down on the sofa that Stefan had occupied whilst feeding.

"Away from what?"

She hesitated. "You."

It wasn't a lie, she _had _needed to get away from him, there was no need to mention what else she'd been doing. She kind of wished that she could get away from him indefinitely. Klaus was not good for her.

"Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing. You didn't do anything. Just, you know…we, you know."

"Slept together?"

"Yeah."

"And that embarrasses you, why…? It's not as though we haven't done it before."

"I'm not embarrassed! It's just…you hate me, and I hate you. You forced me to kill my friend, tried to kill my ex-boyfriend and then made it so no matter what, I will always come back to you until you say otherwise. And me? I treated you and your brother like my own personal toys for almost three hundred years and then when I'd had enough I just left. I didn't leave delicately, either. We've both wronged each other in some way or another, the last thing we should be doing is sleeping together."

"Firstly, I think we're both a bit too old and damned to be taking the moral high ground, anymore. Secondly, I don't hate you."

"You don't?"

"Why is that so surprising?"

"Well…you hate everyone…"

"I don't hate everyone, I just consider myself superior to everyone else."

Ava rolled her eyes. It was practically the same thing.

"So we can either sit here and discuss the morality of the whole thing, or we can make the most of Rebekah and Stefan's absence. It's your choice."

Ava chose the latter.


	34. Chapter 32

**16****th**** August, 2011**

They moved from the bar, not wanting to be interrupted by Gloria or the return of Stefan and Rebekah. They'd made a pit stop in the room that held the coffins of Klaus' deceased siblings so that Klaus could pin her against the wall and press his lips against her collar bone, her neck, her jaw bone and the spot just beneath her ear. She'd grasped his shoulders and pulled him closer, longing for physical closeness with someone who she wasn't afraid of breaking.

They moved from that room, because having sex in a room full of dead people is one step closer to necrophilia and that would never be considered a good thing.

They somehow ended up in the back of Klaus' car. Not for the first time, Ava thanked the Lord for tinted windows.

* * *

><p>"You'd think that, after a thousand years, that kind of feeling would be hard to come by." he murmured, kissing her neck.<p>

"Mhmm," she agreed vaguely, her eyes closed as she drifted closer to sleep. The hand that had been tracing circles lazily over his shoulder relaxed at the same time that her breathing became slow and steady. He sat up and pushed a hand through his hair, his eyes never once leaving her face. He reached down to brush a strand of hair from her forehead, pulling it back hastily when she stirred; he didn't want to wake her.

She brought out a side of him that he hadn't seen in a long time. Feelings that he hadn't thought he'd ever feel again. A sense of security he hadn't felt since long before he'd become a vampire. She felt like home.

He shook his head at his own foolishness. If only his father could see him now, he could almost hear the ridicules that he would have to endure if his father knew of his feelings.

"_You are as foolish as you ever were, Niklaus. She will never love you. Your feelings for her are nothing but a weakness, one which will be used against you._"

He frowned at the words that were ringing through his head. Though he knew that they weren't true, and that his father was entombed in a cemetery and had been for the past decade, they still unsettled him. Here he was, the big, bad wolf, falling right back in love with a girl he'd never actually gotten over in the first place. It was madness. She didn't need to know though. No one did.

That didn't stop him from leaning down and whispering the words that would otherwise stay unsaid into the ear of the girl sleeping beneath him.

As soon as the words passed his lips, her eyes flew open and she stared at him, horror-struck. He could see his reflection in her eyes and saw that his expression mirrored hers. He hadn't meant for her to hear…he had just needed to say it, just once. He thought she'd been asleep! He'd have never said it otherwise.

He could have compelled her to forget. Why didn't he? It would be a simple solution to an otherwise undesirable situation, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. All he could think about was putting as much space between himself and Ava as was possible. He pulled his shirt back over his head and his tugged his jeans on before slamming out of the car without so much as a glance in her direction.

* * *

><p>"You don't seem to hate him nearly as much as you should." said Stefan, leaning against the bar watching her curiously. After Klaus had left her in the back of the car following the shocking revelation of his feelings towards her, Ava had pulled her clothes back on as slowly as possible before venturing back into the bar where she'd found Stefan alone. Apparently Klaus and Rebekah had gone for some quality family bonding.<p>

In other words, he was avoiding her.

She was quiet for a moment, the last words that Klaus had said to her ringing in her ears. "I feel sorry for him."

"Why?"

"Because I know how it feels to have your family turn their back on you."

"You mean when Elijah and Rebekah turned against him?"

"No. No, Elijah and Rebekah stood by Klaus for a long time before they turned on him. Something much bigger happened much, much earlier."

"What?"

Ava paused. She wasn't sure whether or not Klaus would be pissed if she told Stefan what had happened. Then again, he was already angry at her if his expression when she'd opened her eyes had been anything to go by…

"Well, you know that Klaus' mother had an affair with a werewolf, the result being Klaus…when his father found out, he turned against Klaus. They'd never gotten along very well, but when he discovered that he wasn't Klaus' biological father, well…let's just say he didn't make it a priority to make Klaus feel wanted. He may not have been Klaus' biological father, but he'd raised him since birth. For all intents and purposes, he _was _Klaus' father." she paused and let out a small sigh. "His mother was worse. She placed the curse on Klaus which is, you know, fair enough, but then she turned her back on him, too. Set aside all her maternal instincts and just abandoned him. I thought my family were bad but compared to his…can anyone really blame him for how he is today?"

"What do you mean?"

"He does what he has to, to survive. He just doesn't want to be alone. None of us do."

Stefan paused, apparently deep in thought. "Do you know how they became vampires?"

"No. They never talked about it much. It's a bit of a sore subject."

Stefan considered this for a moment. He looked down at his hands and then back up at her. "Still…he ruined the life you'd built around your friends…"

"Mhmm…he also rescued me from a pretty terrible situation. I kind of owe him."

"Wasn't that over a thousand years ago?"

"Yeah, I never really paid him back for him. Unless you count sex which, you know, I don't."

Stefan laughed bitterly. "In that case, I should probably get ready for a thousand years at his service."

"Why?"

"He saved my brother's life. Now I owe him. And I don't intend on paying him back with sex."

"You could do worse. He's a lot more human than anyone gives him credit for." she said. She'd been so adamant that his humanity was gone, that he was nothing but a selfish, arrogant monster who was looking out for no one but himself. She'd believed him incapable of any human emotion. She shifted uncomfortably at the memory of what had happened earlier that day. She was dreading facing him when he returned.

"You've changed your tune." Stefan remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well…I guess I was a little to quick to judge." she said evasively, avoiding his gaze.


	35. Chapter 33

**August 17****th****, 2011**

"Where are you going?"

Ava cursed under her breath. Sneaking out was a lot harder when your companions were vampires.

She turned around reluctantly to find Klaus leaning against the wall behind him, watching her. She felt a spasm of nerves. They hadn't been alone since the previous day when he'd said _that_. She'd barely thought of anything else. She felt guilty, because she didn't feel the same. She felt uncomfortable knowing how he felt and she was scared. What if he decided to rip her head off in a fit of anger over it?

"Out," she muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"At this time?" he said, gesturing to the window where they could both clearly see that it was still dark, indicating that it hadn't even hit 4am yet.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

"That makes two of us."

He didn't smile, but he didn't look angry. He looked indifferent. She couldn't think of anything to say to him. She didn't want to bring up what had happened the previous day, but she wanted to apologise to him. How did you apologise to someone for not returning their feelings without sounding like a patronising moron? How did you _say _it? Sorry I'm not in love with you? _How _could she ever love him? He'd forced her to kill one of her friends.

Just as he was going to turn away, she took a step forwards.

"Nik?"

He stopped in his tracks, probably in shock of hearing her use that name for him. She hadn't called him that in over a thousand years. Only Rebekah still called him Nik.

He turned back to face her with a guarded expression.

"I'm sorry,"

"What for?"

"You know, just, well…I'm sorry, ok?" she said, cringing at her own words. What a brilliant apology, she thought to herself sarcastically.

"I know."

The expression he was wearing reminded her forcefully of another time he'd worn it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she'd definitely seen that look before…

* * *

><p>"<em>I think that my brother desires you," said Klaus, glancing over Ava's shoulder at Elijah who, despite having his wife in his arms, kept glancing over at the pair of them with what could only be described as envy. Ava followed Klaus' gaze and laughed, though inside she was starting to feel a little irritated; Elijah could at least <em>try _to not make it obvious. _

"_Don't be ridiculous, Niklaus. Your brother is married." she replied with a laugh before he twirled her around. She glanced around at Elijah again, guilt mounting up inside of her. She had wronged nor only Belle and Niklaus by doing what she had done, but Elijah as well. She was worried she may have unintentionally ruined Elijah's marriage as well. Elijah was a moral man, he was sure to be feeling just as guilty as she was. What if his conscience got the better of him and he revealed what the two of them had done? They would be punished, and severely._

_She smiled at Elijah, but he only glared. Of course, he was angry at her, and so he should be, but still, the intensity of his angry gaze startled her a little, she had only been trying to do the right thing._

"_And what of you? Does my brother have your attention?" Klaus asked, watching her closely._

"_Not in the way you suspect." She lied, smiling up at him. "_You _have my undivided attention."_

_He kissed her forehead and moved the hand that had been resting on her waist to cup her cheek. "Can I tell you something?" he said, suddenly nervous._

"_Of course. You can tell me anything."_

"_I think I…well, I think…"_

"_Are you blushing, Niklaus?" she teased, resting her hands against his chest._

_He smiled bashfully and looked down, avoiding her gaze._

"_What is it?"_

"_I think I love you," he said carefully, dragging his gaze up from the ground to meet hers. _

_Ava was shocked. She was flattered, but it was such terrible timing. To say it back only two days after she had lain with his brother, his _married _brother would make her even more of a harlot than she already saw herself as. Not that she didn't feel the same way, of course she did, how could she not? He was so good and kind and caring. But she couldn't say it back, not now, not when she felt the same way about his brother._

"_Klaus…" she began, wondering how on earth to placate the situation. She looked up at him, surprised at how guarded he looked. Less than a moment ago his expression had been filled with raw emotion, but now? Her less than satisfactory reaction had caused him to close up before she had a chance to hurt him. Nevertheless, beneath that guarded expression, she could see that he was hurt. Before she could say anything else, though, she heard something. Something that shocked her to the very core. She turned away from Klaus to find her parents, her brother and Alexander striding towards her…Niklaus would have to wait._

* * *

><p>Of course. It had been the same expression he'd worn the very first time he'd said <em>those <em>words. No wonder he was angry, she'd reacted almost the exact same way. She was surprised he hadn't ripped her heart out of her chest, to be perfectly honest…she'd done it to him time and time again.

* * *

><p>"Where are you?" demanded Klaus as soon as she answered the phone.<p>

"What's wrong?"

"Gloria's dead, Stefan's hiding something, we're going back to Mystic Falls."

"Still not solved the Hybrid problem, huh?"

"Just shut up and get over here."

"As you wish, oh noble one." she replied, stung by the coldness of his tone. He didn't even bother to make a remark about her sarcasm, he just hung up on her. She looked down at her screen, sighing unhappily. She couldn't blame him for being angry at him, but how long was it going to last? Wasn't his hybrid problem enough to distract him? She found it hard to believe that Klaus, one of the oldest and by all means the most dangerous of the Originals, would be even slightly perturbed by unrequited feelings.


	36. Chapter 34

**August 18****th****, 2011**

"Terrorising school kids? Really, Klaus?" said Ava sceptically, looking between Klaus and Rebekah with a raised eyebrow. "That's your big plan?"

"If you don't have anything constructive to say, keep your mouth shut." he snapped, leaning back against the wall of the truck.

She glanced down at Stefan who was, as he had been for the best part of the day, unconscious. Every time he came around Klaus would greet him with a nice, sharp broken neck.

As it turned out, what Stefan had been hiding from Klaus was that his girlfriend was still alive. She wasn't just any girl though, she was the doppelganger. The key to breaking the curse. And Klaus was pissed.

Ava didn't know who the doppelganger was, nor what she looked like, and she had no desire to find out. She was growing tired of Klaus and his need for violence. She understood that violence was an instinctive part of being a vampire, and since he was a werewolf too, his aggression and whatnot was heightened, but it was all the freaking time. The fact that it was constantly awkward between them now didn't help matters.

Why hadn't he compelled her to forget it had ever happened? It was such a Klaus thing to do that she was bewildered as to why he hadn't. He'd had no qualms compelling her so that she couldn't help but return to him every damn time she tried to get away, so why hadn't he erased her memory of that moment? If he wanted his feelings to remain a secret then _why_?

"Rebekah, you stay here with Stefan. Ava, you come with me."

"I'd rather not have any part in this. Forgive me but terrorising school kids is a little too…what's the word I'm looking for? Ah, yes. _Pathetic_ for my taste."

"You're coming with me." he said, standing up.

"No I'm not." she replied, rising with him and looking him right in the eye for what seemed like the first time in days. He'd been noticeably more aggressive with her since he'd unintentionally told her that he loved her, it was all she could do to stop herself from slapping him.

He gripped her upper arm tight. "You _will _do as I say, or I _will_ make you." he threatened.

"God, what is your _problem_?" she demanded, pulling her arm out his grasp as she reached the end of her tether.

"If you two are going to have a couples fight I'd rather you took it elsewhere." Rebekah interjected looking thoroughly bored. Neither of them paid her the slightest bit of attention.

"Excuse me?"

"_What. Is. Your. Problem?"_ she repeated slowly, glaring up at him. "You've been like this ever sinc-" she broke off, not wanting to bring up what had happened but she didn't feel like she was able to act like it hadn't happened anymore. It needed to be addressed.

"Ever since _what_?" Klaus asked. He raised an eyebrow. He was daring her to say it out loud. She could see it in his expression. He didn't want to talk about it anymore than she did. If she had the nerve to say it out loud, especially in front of Rebekah, he'd rip her limb from limb. She could almost feel the anger radiating off him.

"You know what." she replied, tearing her gaze away from his.

"Say it," he demanded, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't.

She glared at him for a few seconds before throwing her hands up in defeat. "I give up." she exclaimed, leaving him with his sister and a still-unconscious Stefan. She left the truck and found herself in the car park parking lot. She needed to get away. She needed to clear her head. She needed to go somewhere, anywhere, she just needed to get away from Klaus. And not just for a few weeks this time, she needed time to herself so that she could figure out where her loyalties lay. If she had been able to, she would have left for good. She would have hightailed it out of Mystic Falls and away from Klaus without a second thought. She'd - foolishly - thought that the old him was in there somewhere and that it just needed the right amount of coaxing to draw it back out again. How wrong she had been. There was none of that part of him left. It had disintegrated over the centuries, leaving nothing but a monster. A _true _monster. Klaus didn't do anything unless it was in his own best interests. If she stayed with him, she was going to end up dead. Klaus expected everyone to bend to his will, but Ava wasn't nearly submissive enough to go along with that. She had a mind of her own, she made her own decisions, she wasn't going to treat Klaus as her master. She needed to go. And never come back.

If only.

She thought about the last time Klaus had taken away his will. When he'd compelled her to come back. To _always_ come back to him. Why had he done that? What possible purpose did it serve? She could do nothing that he couldn't do himself, why was he so intent of having her around?

Because he loved her? No. She didn't believe that for a second. He may have said it, but she didn't believe that was how he really felt about her. Did he even know what love was anymore? When you love someone, you don't force them to do as you say, you let them make their own decisions. When you love someone you don't ruin their life, you do whatever you can to make it better.

Pulling her car keys out of her pocket, she began to make her way over to her car. She was going to go, to drive as far away as she could for as long as she could before the compulsion dragged her back. _When _would it drag her back? He hadn't specified a time when he'd compelled her, he'd just said that she would always come back to him. When was always?

She froze. Could it be possible? Could she have found a loophole? If she went away with the intention of returning to him in the end, she would never have to come back, not until the end, and who knew when that was?

"Going somewhere?"

She snapped out of her reverie and tried to look as though she hadn't just had an epiphany of sorts. "Yes." she said shortly, continuing onwards to her car.

"Anywhere nice?" he asked sarcastically.

She shot him a scathing look over her shoulder. "I don't know. I just…I need to, I have to get away from here."

"From here or from me?"

"From you," she admitted as she unlocked her car. "You're driving me crazy."

"Ouch,"

"I'm sorry, it's difficult staying sane in the presence of someone who loathes me."

"I don't loathe you." he replied, leaning against her car.

"Yeah, well, you sure act like it."

He disregarded her comment with a roll of his eyes. "Hurry back. It's not the same arguing with my sister or Stefan."

"Goodbye, Klaus." she replied, getting into her car and shutting the door behind her. Leaving him behind for what could possibly be forever was a concept that Ava could consider quite happily. She'd lived for 700 hundred years without him, and quite happily so. Of course, she didn't know for certain whether her revelation was valid or not, only time would tell, but the prospect of living a Klaus-free life was something she was certainly looking forward to. She'd been with him just over a month and she had been ready to drive a stake through her own heart just to be rid of him.


	37. Chapter 35

**August 18****th****, 2011**

Ava drove, and drove, and drove with no sense at all of where she was going. She took turns at random intervals but maintained one thing: direction. Her intention was to get as far away from Klaus as was physically possible, and that's what she was doing.

Her loophole was right, she could feel it. She never had to go back. Not unless she wanted to.

She had no idea where she was, or for how long she'd been driving when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, it was Klaus. Her first thought to ignore it, but her exhilaration got the better of her. Before she could change her mind, she answered.

"Problem solved?" she said, referring to his hybrid/doppelganger problem.

"Problem solved." he confirmed.

"Brilliant."

"Where are you? Let's celebrate."

Ava frowned, underneath his obvious joy at having solved the problem, she could hear something else. He sounded stressed…nervous. What had happened that had caused _Klaus_ to worry? It didn't matter, not to her anyway, she reminded herself.

"I don't know, but I'm not coming back." she said, preparing herself for his undoubtedly angry reaction.

"Spoilsport. When _are _you coming back?"

"I'm not coming back, Klaus. When I said I needed to get away from you, I meant for good."

There was a tense pause.

"You know that's not possible, sweetheart." he said, laughing.

"Oh, but it is. I've found a loophole, I'm free."

"What are y-"

"I'm free, Klaus. Don't you get it? I'm _free. _I never have to see you again."

"Get back here. Now."

She laughed, he couldn't hurt her now.

"Goodbye, Klaus."

"Ava if you hang up, so help me God I wi-"

Whatever threat he was about to hiss down the phone was lost when she pressed the 'end call' button.

It was like a string had been cut. Her life was her own once again. She was free to do whatever she wanted. She could build a new life, start again and try and find happiness. The possibilities were endless.


	38. Chapter 36

**September 18****th****, 2011**

Groaning with satisfaction as the blood ran down her throat, she pulled away slightly from the human she had lured back to her apartment with the promise of a good time. She was about to dive back in when she noticed that her phone had lit up. She didn't need to check it to know what it was; it would be another phone call, or a threatening voicemail or a text promising her painful death from Klaus. She'd delete them later, right now she was too busy enjoying herself.

When she'd drank enough to quench her thirst, but not enough to kill the man, she wiped the blood from her mouth and bit into her wrist to draw her own blood. She offered it to the man who took it without question and began to feed off her blood. She watched happily as the teeth marks on his neck began to heal, leaving nothing but blood stains on his neck. She cleaned him up and compelled him to forget that he'd ever met her and sent him on his way. She was fed and satisfied and there was no harm done. Even more proof that vampires didn't need to kill to satisfy their thirst.

She reached for her phone to read what offensive message had been left for her. He'd already threatened her with pulling out her heart and forcing it down her throat, twisting her head so far around it snaps off, tearing her limb from limb and, her particular favourite, forcing vervain soaked splinters underneath her fingernails.

She unlocked her phone to find a voicemail waiting for her. She pressed the phone to her ear to listen to the message and was, to put it lightly, a little surprised at what she found.

"Ava," Klaus said. "I need your help. Call me, please."

Well, she thought as she threw her phone on the couch, that was different. It was a different approach, certainly, but she wasn't falling for it. Did he honestly think she was going to come rushing to his side because he claimed he needed her help? It was one of the oldest tricks in the book. No chance.

**September 29****th****, 2011**

"So, what, you just left?" came Thomas' perplexed voice down the phone.

"I challenge you to spend one month with him and then question my decision." Ava replied, pushing the door of her building open. "Me and Klaus have what you would call clashing personalities. He expects everyone to bow down at his feet and I refuse to."

"It's not that," he said with a laugh. "It's just…well, from what I've heard, if Klaus wants you around then you have no choice. You either abide or you die."

"Mhmmm…honestly I'm lucky to still be alive. He doesn't know where I am but he's made it pretty clear what he wants to do to me when he finds me."

"Oh?"

"Mhm-hm." she said, getting into the elevator. She pushed the button for the 6th floor and waited for the doors to close before continuing. "I think his exact words were 'I will tear you and everyone that you've ever met apart. And that was one of the nicer threats."

"Are you not scared?"

"Scared? I'm terrified, but I've evaded him before, for 700 years, I can easily do it again."

"You're a braver person than I."

"Please, it's not bravery that has me running, it's sheer desperation." she said with a sigh as the lift opened its doors to the 6th floor. "Alright, I'm gonna go. I'll see you next week."

"Ok, call me tomorrow so I know you haven't been killed in your sleep."

Ava laughed and hung up. The chances of her being killed in her sleep were slim; Klaus would want her to suffer.

She let herself into her apartment as she pushed her phone back into her pocket. She leant against the door and pushed a hand through her hair. She glanced at the calendar she'd put up in the hallway. She'd been staying at the apartment over a month now, it was probably time to move on soon…she didn't want to get too comfortable in one place.

She let her bang drop to the floor and sauntered through the hallway into the living room, ready to fling herself down on the sofa, but the person sprawled across it had other ideas.

"Hello, sweetheart."

Ava stared at him for a moment, horror-struck, before turning with the intention of fleeing from the apartment, only to find herself face to face with him. She cursed herself inwardly. She _knew_ she'd stuck around in one place for too long, and now she was going to pay the price by being brutally murdered. Brilliant.

She took a step back and he took one forward, smirking at her expression.

"Come on now, my lovely. Are we really going to do this the hard way?"

"If you're going to kill me, just do it." she said, awaiting the pure pain she would surely feel as Klaus ripped her heart from her chest.

"Though it pains me to say so, I'm not here to kill you." he said reasonably, taking her by the upper arm and guiding her over to the couch. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I assume you got at least one of my many messages." he sat back down and poised his arms behind his head. "Ignoring me, were you?"

"What did you expect? You sent me several voicemails and texts explaining in detail how you wanted to kill me."

"True, I'll admit that your abrupt departure made me want to mutilate your very soul, but someone else has wronged me which, by all means, cancels out your offence."

"Wait, what?"

"I need your help Ava. No tricks, no mind games, I'm not luring you into a false sense of security. I genuinely want your help."


	39. Chapter 37

**How's everyone feeling about Klaus falling for Caroline? For the sake of this fic I'm gonna just disregard it like it hasn't happened, but it's gonna make it hard for me to picture Klaus and Ava anymore when I know that in the show he's falling the Caroline. Sigh. I'll try my best :/**

* * *

><p><strong>29<strong>**th**** September, 2011**

"My help?" Ava repeated in disbelief. "You want, _you_ want _my _help? Why? What can I do that you can't?"

"Stefan took something from me. I want it back. You're going to help me."

"What did he take?" She said slowly. Getting on Klaus' bad side was never a good idea, she knew that only too well, but to go as far as to steal something from him? That was borderline suicidal.

"My family. "

Ava groaned. Stefan couldn't have picked anything worse. "What do you want me to do about it?" she asked, pushing past him and making her way into the living area. "Smack him on the hand for hurting your feelings? Make him apologise?"

"I want you to call him. Call him and find out where he's keeping the coffins."

"You honestly think he's going to tell _me_?" she replied incredulously. "Why on earth would he tell me?"

"You're going to pretend that you want to help him. It's not too implausible…I mean, you have been hiding from me for the past month, have you not?"

Ava scowled. The last thing she wanted to do was get in the middle of a Klaus and Stefan fight, but what choice did she have? Either she did it of her own free will or he'd make her do it.

With a glare, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled Stefan's number. She didn't need time to come up with a convincing lie; she'd been lying her way through life for centuries, it came naturally to her.

"What do you want?" came Stefan's voice almost as soon as he picked up the phone.

"I want to help you." she replied, turning away from Klaus who was listening to every word.

There was a pause. "Help me with what?"

"The coffins. I want in on whatever you're doing."

"How do you know about the coffins?"

"How do you think? Klaus phoned me up accusing me of conspiring against him with you by taking his family. He threatened to drive a stake through my heart if I didn't tell him where you were hiding them." she paused for a moment. "I want to help you."

"I don't believe you."

"Stefan, Klaus took everything from me. He swooped in and destroyed the life that I had spent years building."

"I don't want your help, Ava."

"Then you're incredibly stupid. I don't think you realise the magnitude of what you've done, Stefan. Klaus' family are his only weakness, but you must have realised by now that when Klaus doesn't get what he wants, he takes it out on those around him. You haven't just condemned yourself, you've signed all of our death sentences. He will kill everyone that you care about just to send a message. Hell, he'd even kill me to send a message. You need my help, Stefan." she lied smoothly. She didn't care whether or not Stefan lived to tell the tale. He'd stolen Klaus' family knowing full well what Klaus was capable of. Whatever happened to him in the end, he'd have only brought it on himself.

"Goodbye, Ava."

"Stefan don't you dare hang up o-" she began, only to be cut off my the dial tone. She turned back around to Klaus. "There, I've done what you asked. Stefan won't tell me where they are, just like I said. You can go now." she said, gesturing towards the door.

"Is this how you treat all your guests, sweetheart?"

"Only the ones I don't like."

"Ouch."

"Let yourself out." she said, throwing her phone on the coffee table and walking towards the kitchen.

"So rude. Where are your manners?" said Klaus, making himself comfortable in an arm chair.

"Oh, God. Please just go! I want no part in your petty little fight with Stefan. Kill him. Kill his friends. Kill his family if you have to. I don't care, just leave me out of it."

"I could always make you take part in it." Klaus said with a smirk.

Ava fought the urge to throw something at him. She hated the way he treated her like an object, like she was an object of low intelligence whose will could be bent for his convenience. She hadn't even realised it until after she'd ran off. She had so wanted to believe that somewhere deep inside of him lay the man that he'd been before he'd turned, that he was lying dormant, but it seemed that that side of him had been completely eradicated.

"You don't own me, Klaus." she said, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice. "I'm not an object. I'm not a toy and I am certainly not your property! I have a mind of my own, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed."

"So why won't you just leave me be? I don't want to be caught in the middle of your drama, Klaus, because that's all there ever is with you. It's just constant drama. You're never happy, you've always got some goal, some seemingly unattainable goal that you'll spend hundreds if not thousands of years working towards. You can never just…be. Have you ever just sat down and appreciated life for just a second? No, you haven't. But I have, Klaus, and I like it! I like having a normal life even if normal is something that I'll never be."

Klaus had been watching her closely the entire time she'd been talking. It was the kind of intense stare that made her slightly uncomfortable, like he was trying to stare right into her soul. He opened his mouth to say something when her phone started ringing.

Simultaneously, they both looked over to where it lay on the coffee table where they could both see who had the nerve to interrupt them.

It was Stefan.


	40. Chapter 38

**So who enjoyed this latest episode? Not gonna lie, I literally screamed out loud at the ending! Sorry for the crappy chapter by the way. I'll probably be bringing this fic to an end soon because it's getting a little too long but I'll do a sequel because I'm not finished with it yet. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>29<strong>**th**** September, 2011**

"Stefan?"

"Let me speak to Klaus."

"What are yo-"

"I just ran into one of his hybrids. He told me that Klaus had gone to find you. Let me talk to him."

Ava sighed and turned to look at Klaus, he looked angry. She handed the phone over with an apologetic shrug and turned away; she didn't need to be paying particular attention to hear the conversation that was about to happen, her senses were strong enough to pick it up without even trying.

"Nice try, Klaus."

"Stefan." Klaus growled, clutching the phone so tightly that she was surprised he didn't crush it. "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear last time we spoke. Return my coffins or watch as I obliterate the population of Mystic Falls."

"Perhaps _I_ didn't make myself clear. Kill me, Klaus. Go ahead. If you kill me, the location of those coffins dies with me."

Klaus' expression was one of pure fury when he hurled her mobile across the room where it shattered against the opposite wall, leaving a significant dent in the wall.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to talk about right now, but you owe me a phone." Ava said bitterly, ignoring the glare he threw in her direction.

"Come on, we're going."

"_We_?"

"Yes. _We_ are going back to Mystic Falls. I'll get those coffins back if it's the last thing I do. And you're going to help me."

Ava sighed. She didn't particularly want to help, but she didn't see any way that she could get out of it. "Do I have a choice?" she asked, though she was sure she already knew the answer.

"Of course you do. You can either say yes and we'll be on our way, or you can say no and I'll make you come any way."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." she muttered, pocketing her keys. "Lets go then."

"Really? No argument? No heartfelt speech about how you don't want to get dragged into my mess, about how you just want to be 'normal'?" Klaus asked, sneering on the latter half of the sentence.

"I figured if I do as you ask you'll be more likely to let me go sooner." she answered with a glare.

He answered with a smirk. "You'll be lucky if I let you out of my sight." he said, moving down the hallway and pulling open the front door, gesturing for her to go first.

She rolled her eyes and hoped against hope that he was joking. Being under Klaus' constant supervision didn't sound like a particularly appealing situation.

* * *

><p>It seemed that Klaus was setting up camp in Mystic Falls. As they walked through what appeared to be a large house under construction, Klaus pulled a cell phone from his back pocket and handed it to Ava.<p>

"I always keep a spare." he said with a small smile as he led the way upstairs and into a room on the far side of the corridor. There was nothing particularly notable about the room except the coffin that lay in the centre of the room. Ava turned to Klaus with a quizzical expression.

"Rebekah." He said in way of explanation.

"You daggered her again? Did she insult your choice of outfit for the homecoming dance?"

"I didn't dagger her," he said, ignoring her jibe. "Elena did."

"So why don't you wake her?"

Klaus paused, staring down at the coffin with such a tender expression that Ava felt like she was intruding on a rather intimate moment. "I did something. Something bad, a very long time ago. I lied about it and Rebekah found out. If I wake her up she'll make it her life's ambition to kill me." Klaus said quietly. "I can't stand it when she's upset with me."

"What did you do?"

"I killed our mother."

Ava gaped at him. "Why? Why would you kill your own mother?"

"It's a long story. We'll share another time. Now," he turned away from the coffin to face Ava. "I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"I want you to compel Matt Donovan to kill himself."

"I have a few problems with that. First things first, I don't know who Matt Donovan is. Secondly, compelling people to kill themselves isn't going to get you your coffins back, Klaus. I thought you were smarter than that."

"I really wish you would just do as I say without question."

"Well If I did that I'd be one of those mindless minions of yours and if that's what you wanted you'd have compelled me to do whatever you say a long time ago."

"Don't tempt me." said Klaus, giving her a dark look. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "Ok, go after the witch. Try and convince her to tell you where the coffins are. Say that you'll kill…" he paused for a moment, "…Elena if she won't tell you."

"The doppelganger? Oh, yeah, great plan. Like she'll believe me. The doppelganger is the key to making your hybrids, you don't want her dead."

"Well just say you don't care about what I think or something. Oh!" He stopped and looked at her properly. "Say that you don't want the coffins for me. Say that you want them for yourself. Make out you're in love with Elijah or something. Or one of the others, I don't suppose it matters either way."

Ava sighed. "Fine, I'll say I'm in love with Elijah then. It shouldn't be too hard to pretend, considering." Considering that she had once been in love with him. She said it with a laugh, realising too late what she'd said.

"Considering what?" asked Klaus, picking up on her words straight away. Ava cringed. If she could have hit herself in the face without seeming mad she certainly would have. Klaus hadn't known that she'd ever been in love with Elijah, when the three of them had been together after she turned, she'd assured Klaus that her feelings for Elijah were nothing but physical attraction. She'd told him that she loved him and only him. She hoped against hope that it wasn't still a touchy subject.

"Well, you know, I used to pretend all the time." she lied, forcing her lips into a smile. "I pretended for almost 300 years!" she said, casting around in her head for a change of subject. "So! This witch, what's her name?"

Klaus didn't look like he believed her, but he let it slide. Thank God, she thought to herself. She didn't want to get into a conversation with Klaus about whether or not she'd loved his brother. Not when he was in such a bad mood over his stolen family.

"Bonnie Bennett."


	41. Chapter 39

**7****th**** October, 2011**

It had been just over a week since Klaus had asked Ava to assist him in getting back his family. In all honesty, she hadn't really been much help. After Klaus had asked Ava to go after the witch something had happened - from what she'd gathered, Stefan had kidnapped the doppelganger and threatened to turn her - he'd had a change of heart and decided that he'd handle it himself. He'd sent his hybrids away so it was just the two of them and Rebekah who wasn't really much of a help since for all intents and purposes she was dead.

Klaus wasn't really involving her in whatever was going on, either. She hadn't really expected any different; after her disappearing act he obviously didn't trust her. She was surprised he hadn't killed her yet, actually.

Although she wasn't being included in any of Klaus' master plans, he wanted to keep her around for reasons he had not yet disclosed. She'd wanted to leave but Klaus being Klaus had taken the necessary measures to stop her. He'd compelled her to stay until he said otherwise. He'd really dotted all his I's and crossed his t's.

She had been pissed at first. She'd actually slapped him with all the strength she could muster, earning herself nothing but a hand clamped around her throat whilst Klaus hissed that he wouldn't have to resort to compulsion if she would just do as he said once in a while.

Now, however, after having had chance to calm down, she realised that she incredibly lucky to still be alive. Klaus had a bad temper, if she pushed him too hard he was going to snap and kill her one day.

* * *

><p>During one of her many periods of time she spent alone, Ava wondered to herself what would happen when Klaus got his coffins back. Would he undagger them all? Would she be forced to face Elijah again?<p>

She bit down on her lip worriedly. Having Klaus find her was one thing; it had resulted in the collapse of her brilliantly normal life, the death of a friend and the end of her relationships with Sam and her other friends. She felt a guilty twinge her stomach when she thought of Sam. Poor Sam. He'd done nothing to deserve the trouble she'd brought upon him.

How angry would Elijah be if he saw her? Would he kill her? He didn't have the same fiery temper as Klaus…or at least he hadn't 700 years ago. Who knew what he was like now? Perhaps he'd grown to hate her over the years. She knew that if the situations were reversed she would certainly hate him.

The guilt she had been feeling over Sam turned anxiety when she remembered Elijah was Thomas' father. If Klaus found out he'd be…angry to say the least. It had been over a thousand years and yet Klaus still had no idea that she and Elijah had shared more than a friendly hug that night.

* * *

><p>Ava was sat in the Mystic Grill, the only bar that Mystic Falls seemed to have, steadily making her way through what was apparently their finest whiskey. She'd finished her first glass and was about to ask for another when she was joined by Stefan and a tall, dark and handsome stranger.<p>

"Hello, Stefan." she said. "I see Klaus hasn't ripped your head off yet." she said with a smile.

Stefan laughed. "Where _is _Klaus? He usually has you on such a tight leash." he retorted with a sardonic smile.

She resisted the urge to smash the glass she was holding against his temple and laughed along with him, albeit a little bitterly. "Oh, Stefan. Has anyone told you what a dick you are?"

"I have," interjected the stranger. "More than once." He gave her an appraising once over before reaching over Stefan to offer her his hand. "Damon Salvatore."

She took his hand and shook it. "Ava La Torre," she replied.

"Pleasure."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, turning back to Stefan. "Shouldn't you be out keeping Klaus' coffins hidden and being an ass?"

"He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"He got them back." he paused. "Well, he got three of them back. I thought I'd hang onto the last one. You know, for safe keeping."

Klaus had his coffins back? And he hadn't told her? That was odd. She'd expected him to be ca- oh. She'd pulled out her phone only to find that he _had _been calling her, only she'd forgotten to turn her phone off silent.

"In that case I'd better be going." she said, sliding off her bar stool.

"That's right, you don't want to keep your master waiting." Stefan said, taking a swig from the glass in front of him. Next to him, Damon smirked.

"That's rich coming from someone who spent the entire summer being Klaus' bitch." Ava replied. She leant against the bar, facing him. "Keep in mind that whilst Klaus might not have seen fit to rip your head off, piss me off and I most certainly will."

Without another word, she left the two of them at the bar, Stefan glaring after her.

* * *

><p>Ava arrived back at Klaus' work-in-progress (his fortress, as he liked to call it) in good spirits. If Klaus had his family back, chances were he'd be in an incredibly good mood and <em>might<em> be willing to free her from his compulsion now he that he had what he wanted. It was a tall order but it wasn't impossible.

The first thing she'd need to do if Klaus let her go would be to get a new phone, one that Klaus didn't have access to, and call Thomas. She'd said she was going to call him the next day yet she'd been gone over a week. Thomas would think Klaus had killed her.

"Hey," she called as soon as she stepped through the front door. She spotted him immediately. He was stood with his back to her, talking to someone. One of his hybrids probably. "I hear Stefan gave you your coffins back." she said as he turned around. He stared at her, shocked.

She frowned quizzically, why was he looking at her like that? It wasn't until the person he'd been talking to stepped forward and spoke her name quietly that her attention was diverted from Klaus.

"Elijah?"


	42. New Story

**Ok so I've put the first chapter of the sequel up. It's called What Would Have Happened: Part 2.**

**I would put a link here but it won't work so if you want to read it it'll be under the Vampire Diaries category, obviously, under Romance, rated T. Characters: Elijah and Klaus.**


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